Bloomberg:
- U.S. Economy: Consumer Spending Increases More Than Forecast. Americans increased spending more than forecast in February as incomes climbed, easing concern that rising food and fuel costs might derail the consumer demand that makes up 70 percent of the U.S. economy. Purchases increased 0.7 percent, the most since October, after advancing 0.3 percent the prior month, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. Another report showed the number of contracts to buy previously owned homes advanced for the first time in three months. More than half the gain in spending last month reflected higher prices, one reason it will be difficult for households to contribute as much to economic growth this quarter as last. An index of pending home sales increased 2.1 percent in February after a 2.8 percent drop the prior month, figures from the National Association of Realtors showed today.
- CEOs Tap Record Cash for Payouts as M&A at Post-Lehman High. U.S. executives are starting to spend the record $940 billion in cash they built up after the credit crisis, just in time for annual shareholder meetings. Takeovers topped $257 billion this quarter, the most since the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in September 2008, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index companies authorized 38 percent more buybacks in 2011 than a year earlier and dividends may increase to a record $31.07 a share in 2013, data compiled by Birinyi Associates Inc. and Bloomberg show.
- Japan Tax Increase Unavoidable After Quake-Given Debt Load, Lawmakers Say. A tax increase to finance earthquake reconstruction may be unavoidable considering the nation’s huge debt, two Japanese ruling party officials say, and two-thirds of the public agree the measure may be necessary. “We can’t avoid raising taxes as the great earthquake may worsen an already dangerous fiscal situation,” Ikkou Nakatsuka, deputy chairman of the tax committee of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, said in an interview last week.
- Obama Confronts Questions, Skepticism With Address on Libya. President Barack Obama tonight plans to give the American people his justification for intervening in Libya and how it fits in with broader U.S. interests in the region as he faces questions from Congress and skepticism from the public.
- Weather-related work disruptions took a heavy toll on U.S. consumer spending and industrial production in the first quarter, according to Citigroup's Steven C. Wieting. The number of full-time employees that only worked part time in one or more months because of bad weather was the highest since 1996, when a January blizzard struck the Northeast. Milder weather across the U.S. in March may bolster employment figures, Wieting said. Citigroup expects non-farm job growth for the month of 250,000, exceeding the 190,000 median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists.
- EBay(EBAY) Agrees to Buy GSI Commerce(GSIC) for $2.4 Billion to Add Marketing Services. EBay Inc., owner of the largest e- commerce market, agreed to buy GSI Commerce Inc. for about $2.4 billion to add services that help retailers market and distribute their wares. GSI investors will get $29.25 a share in cash, San Jose, California-based EBay said today in a statement. That’s 51 percent more than GSI’s closing price on the Nasdaq Stock Market on March 25.
- Shippers Stick With Tokyo as U.S. Says Radiation Easily Cleaned. Five of the six biggest container shippers are maintaining routes to Tokyo and Yokohama after the U.S. Navy said radiation on vessels from the leaking Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant can be scrubbed off with soap and water.
Wall Street Journal:
- Coalition Looks Ahead, as Rebels Push Westward. Libyan Rebels Gather Outside of Key Town; Coalition Leaders Meet in London Tuesday.
- Protests Flare Up in Restive Syrian City. Syrian security forces fired tear gas on thousands of protesters Monday in a southern city, as President Bashar al-Assad faced down the most serious threat to his family's four decades of authoritarian rule.
- Ocean Spill Feared as Toxic Water Rises. A large quantity of highly radioactive water has been discovered outside the No. 2 nuclear reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, government officials and the plant's operators said Monday, raising the possibility of the highly toxic water leaking into the ocean just 180 feet away. The water, located in a trench and shaft, has a radioactivity level of 1,000 millisieverts per hour, the same level detected in water soaking the basement of the unit's turbine building.
- Nissan Sees Output Recovery Within Weeks. Nissan Motor Co. expects to resume full production "in a matter of weeks, not months" after earthquake damage to auto-parts suppliers sent shockwaves through the global supply chain, a senior executive at the Japanese car maker said. In his first sit-down interview since northeast Japan was rocked by a magnitude 9.0 temblor on March 11, Chief Operating Officer Toshiyuki Shiga sought to play down the impact of supply disruptions that have forced Nissan and others to scale back vehicle production.
- Output at Iraq Southern Oil Fields Rising as Oil Deals Kick In. International oil firms that won mega-projects in southern Iraq expect to boost the country's crude oil output capacity by 600,000 barrels a day by the end of the year. "If things go as planned we will be reaching around 2.5 million barrels a day from southern oil fields alone by the end of this year," Dhiaa Jaafar, director-general of Iraq's South Oil Co., told Dow Jones Newswires.
- Crude Slips as Libyan Rebels Capture Oil Towns. Crude-oil futures fell on Monday, as rebel forces in Libya captured key oil towns over the weekend and investors hoped the antigovernment advance would hasten the end of the conflict. In addition, funds flowed into U.S. equities and out of some commodities, including oil, as stocks advanced. Crude oil for May delivery slipped 77 cents, or 0.8%, to $104.62 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
- US Economy Over the Worst: KPMG Executive Survey. In another sign the American economy is on the comeback trail, a new survey from KPMG shows optimism is improving among U.S. manufacturing and service industry executives. Executives in both key sectors say the worst is behind us.
- Fed's Lockhart Plays Down Inflation Worries. The U.S. economy is on track for a sustained recovery but remains sufficiently weak to warrant the help of loose monetary policy, Atlanta Federal Reserve President Dennis Lockhart said on Monday. "I remain satisfied that the current stance of monetary policy is appropriately calibrated to the current and projected state of the economy," Lockhart said in remarks that largely resembled a speech he gave in Florida on Friday.
- The 10 Tech Companies With The Most Cash and What They Might Do With It.
- Where Are The iPad Killers? There are officially too many tablets to count. But so far, it's still Apple's iPad vs. everyone else.
- Charlie Sheen's "Winning" Turns to Losing. There's a reason Charlie Sheen is fighting for his day job. Reports from around the country are that his planned "Violent Torpedo Of Truth" tour, featuring a 21-venue live show, still has plenty of tickets available and are by no means sold out as previously claimed. CNBC reports some tickets are on sale for less than face value because they were purchased by secondary sellers who now "are bleeding Tiger Blood on their investment."
- Facebook Said to Be Courting Robert Gibbs. The former White House press secretary is said to be under consideration for a job at Facebook, where he’d have a senior communications position, The New York Times reported late Sunday.
- 58% Now Favor Healthcare Repeal. 58% of Likely U.S. Voters at least somewhat favor repeal of the health care law while 36% are opposed. These figures include 46% who Strongly Favor repeal and 27% who Strongly Oppose it.
- Billionaire investor George Soros wrote that banking supervision should be carried out at the European level rather than being left in the hands of national authorities. That could be done by allowing countries to convert sovereign debt into bonds denominated in euros.
- The Japanese government is considering the nationalization of Tokyo Electric Power Co., citing multiple government officials.
- The detection of plutonium at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant suggests certain damage to fuel rods, citing Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.
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