Cavs/Celtics tonight, 8 PM on TNT … live from Beantown. Paul Pierce is expected to miss the game for the Celtics with an injured finger. The Cavs are back to full strength, but are still struggling to incorporate the newly acquired Antawn Jamison, and also Mo Williams, who has not been the same player since returning from the injured list. The Cavaliers are 5 games up on Orlando and 6.5 games up on Boston for the coveted #1 seed in the Eastern Conference.
We could be headed towards an epic rematch on Sunday between the American and Canadian hockey teams, this time with the gold medal on the line. The USA took care of business yesterday, beating Switzerland 2-0 behind another gem of an effort from goaltender Ryan Miller. And the Canadians won again, crushing the Russians 7-3 last night. On Friday, the USA plays Finland and Canada meets Slovakia. The winners will meet for the gold on Sunday.
Raising children is hard. And it’s a lot of pressure knowing everything you say and do on a daily basis is impacting the way your children will develop as people, and the values they will have as adults are the values you teach them when they are young.
Where am I going with this? My son is just past four and a half. He got a piggy bank as a baby from one of the grammas, and over the course of the last 4.5 years, he’s been saving money in there. I’ll give him my change after a fast food run. One of the grandmas will give him a dollar bill. The aunt from Arizona will mail him a $5 bill for Valentine’s Day. We counted it all up the other day. $164! And what does my son say? “Daddy, I want to take the money to your bank and keep it there so it stays safe.”
Aside from the personal pride that came from my son wanting to put his money in the bank instead of spending it on Ewok Villages, light sabers, and a replica Millennium Falcon ship … the statement also served as a reminder of the value of banks and the banking system here in America, and the important role they serve. Over the last couple years, the actions of a small minority have cast a cloud over the vast majority of us in the American banking system who legitimately want to do the right things for people and put them in a position to succeed, not fail.
Quote of the day …
“Opportunity is often difficult to recognize; we usually expect it to beckon us with beepers and billboards.” ~ William Arthur Ward
Market …
A mixed bag of economic news this morning.
Had two numbers released at 8:30 AM. Weekly first time jobless claims, which we get every Thursday morning. Last week’s # came in way higher than expected (473k vs. 445k expected); tempering enthusiasm in what was an otherwise positive week of news about the economy. This week, economists expected the # to fall to about 460k. It didn’t. It rose again, to 496k.
On the positive side of the ledger, we got a very positive report on January durable goods orders. Durable goods are big ticket items ordered by businesses that are considered to be useful for at least three years (such as vehicles, large appliances and computers.) The monthly release provides insight into demand as well as business investment. Companies willing to spend more on equipment and other capital are possibly experiencing sustainable growth and could be planning on greater production capacity. The Commerce Department reported that durable goods orders soared 3% in January against economist expectations of a 1.5% increase. However, it should be noted that most of the strength in the January # came from a 126% increase in volatile civilian aircraft orders.
Stocks snapped a two day losing streak yesterday after investors received the reassurance they wanted from Fed chairman Big Ben Bernanke in his semiannual testimony before Congress. Big Ben reaffirmed the Fed’s plans to keep interest rates low to help strengthen the economy, saying rates would remain at their current historically low levels “for an extended period” and that the Fed would need to start tightening “at some point”. He testifies again today. Financial stocks rallied on the news, helping push the Dow up 92 points. Mortgages sold off slightly.
Bernanke’s testimony overshadowed a disappointing report on new home sales yesterday morning. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of new home sales plummeted 11.2% to 309,000 last month, compared with a revised rate of 348,000 in December, the Census Bureau said. That’s a decline of 6.1% from January 2009. It was the lowest rate since the government began keeping records in 1963 and comes after declines in November and December. The drop surprised many industry analysts. Economists had expected January sales to rise to an annual rate of 354,000.
News …
~ Mortgage Rates May Not Rise Much When Fed Support Ends
http://www.cnbc.com/id/35563022
~ Jobless Claims Rise on Snow Related Layoffs
~ Bernanke Eases Worries About Monetary Tightening
http://www.cnbc.com/id/35560220
~ Durable Goods Orders Rise 3% in January
~ Royal Bank of Scotland Loses 5.5 Billion in 2009
~ Geithner: No Changes to Fannie/Freddie Until 2011
http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2010/02/spending_austerity_a_careful_b.html
~ Stock Futures Fall Over Jobless Data
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