There are several important and/or interesting stories coming in from readers. In an effort to get them posted as soon as possible, I may just post the link and a quick note, and then come back to them.
If you see "In Progress" at the top, it means I plan to come back to the article and clean it up.
Taking up a lot of time this morning is sorting out KXNET's story about Charlotte 2-22H which I think is an error. At the link, it's the very last story.
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WSJ Links
Section D (Personal Journal): some good stories today, but not enough time; maybe later
Section C (Money & Investing):
That vitality may be skin-deep, though. Tuesday's first-quarter results should look fine. Analysts polled by FactSet forecast earnings per share of 64 cents, up from 60 cents a year earlier.
But AT&T's ability to throw off cash may have peaked last year. That matters for any company, and especially one whose shares are valued for their yield in a low-rate world.
AT&T's stock has risen almost twice as fast as the broader market in the past year, with its dividend yield dropping to 4.6% from 5.6%. But that still leaves it as the highest-yielding component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
The Internet-video company Monday said it added a net 2.03 million domestic streaming subscribers in the first quarter, compared with a net 1.74 million in the first quarter of 2012. That gives Netflix 29.2 million total domestic streaming subscribers, roughly the same as Time Warner's TWX +0.30% HBO in the U.S. Aiding this growth was the media buzz surrounding Netflix's original series "House of Cards."
This might have something to do with the weather, since last month was wintrier than usual. But the decline in a variety of consumer-confidence gauges suggests there is more than just a chill in the air at work. The favorite theory is that January's payroll-tax increase has begun to weigh on consumers just as sequester-related government-spending cutbacks are putting a further drag on paychecks.
But while spring swoons in consumer spending have in recent years become a regular occurrence, any downtick this time around will likely be brief. While government-related moves are sapping consumers' strength, two other forces, lower energy costs and rising asset prices, are bucking them up.
Germany's sudden aversion to new cars has been more puzzling. The latest 17% year-on-year drop in sales in March was partially attributed to there being two fewer working days this year. But German car manufacturers are generally at a loss to explain the sales slump, other than to cite weak consumer confidence amid continuing uncertainty around the European economy.
Section B (Marketplace):The concern is that Germany's car market is simply now catching up with other depressed European markets. Germany's car sales last year were still only 11% short of their 2006 peak, whereas Spain and Italy's markets have shrunk about in half since precrisis highs.
Shares of Netflix soared 24% in after-hours trading. The company also reported a small profit compared with a loss a year earlier, as well as a strong reception for "House of Cards," its high-profile original series which debuted in the quarter.
Netflix now is nearly on par with Time Warner Inc.'s HBO premium cable channel in terms of paying customers. HBO had 28.7 million paid U.S. subscribers at the end of the year, according to SNL Kagan, while Netflix's paid streaming subscribers at the end of March totaled 27.91 million.
The company ended the quarter with 29.2 million U.S. streaming video subscribers, including those with free promotions, beating Wall Street's expectations.
Pilot Flying J Chief Executive Jimmy Haslam III said Monday the truck-stop giant has put some of its sales team on administrative leave and is reviewing all contracts with trucking companies amid allegations its employees defrauded customers on diesel-fuel rebates.
Pilot also will scrap manually processed contracts by the end of June and hire a chief compliance officer and outside special investigator in the coming weeks to address allegations of wrongdoing, Mr. Haslam said in a statement delivered to reporters at company headquarters in Knoxville, Tenn. The allegations were raised by a current employee and a former employee, among others, according to the Federal Bureau Investigation.
The U.S. Department of Energy said Monday that it has taken $21 million out of a reserve account set up as part of a loan to luxury plug-in car maker Fisker Automotive Inc. in anticipation of a default on a payment the company owes on a federal loan.
"Given the obvious difficulties the company is facing, we are taking strong and appropriate action on behalf of taxpayers," the Energy Department said in a statement. The department "recouped the company's approximately $21 million reserve account—funds that came from the company's sales and investors, not our loan—and will apply those funds to the loan."
Fisker's chief executive, Tony Posawatz, said in March the payment on the $192 million the company borrowed under a federal advanced technology vehicle program was due Monday.
Section A:The Energy Department said it took the money 12 days ago. The Obama administration has been criticized by Republicans in Congress for its management of loans made to several clean energy technology companies, including Fisker. A GOP-controlled House subcommittee has scheduled hearings on the Fisker situation later this week.
Stories about the surviving Boston Marathon bomber and his legal rights. The rhetoric from the Obama administration: terrorism. Legal actions suggest he will be tried as a common criminal. He is a US citizen; he was read his Miranda rights once he was officially accused and, more importantly, conscious, and able to respond (folks were upset that he was not given his Miranda rights, despite the fact he was unconscious; part of the Miranda mantra includes a "do you understand" clause). By the time this is over, 47% of Americans will remember him as a enemy combatant who went back to an Al Qaeda training camp in Chechnya for training (right or wrong, that's what 47% of Americans will believe). Others, including his mother, will believe he was framed by the FBI.
The Mayo Clinic has big plans to join other top-flight medical centers in an expensive fight for well-heeled patients, but it faces a problem: Its sleepy hometown needs a face-lift.
Mayo, the biggest private employer in Minnesota, is proposing to invest $3 billion to $3.5 billion over 20 years to transform its already big operation here into a "destination medical center." But the clinic thinks Rochester needs some major upgrading as well—including new parking, sewers and other public works and maybe even a high-speed rail link to Minneapolis/St. Paul some 75 miles to the north.
Much of that would be aimed at attracting a bit of glitz to this out-of-the-way city, such as high-end hotels and restaurants, to help the clinic appeal more to lucrative patients from around the world.
- Obama budget spreads the tax pain. Obama decides to start raising taxes on the poor. This I have to read. Later. And especially the 48 comments, so far. Apparently the rich don't have enough money to pay for ObamaCare.
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