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United States News Title: U.S. Stocks Advance as Bernanke Says Fed Rate to Remain Low Feb. 24 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks rose, halting a two-day drop in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the economy still requires low interest rates to spur demand. JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America Corp. paced gains in banks after Bernanke told Congress in prepared remarks that the “nascent” recovery will warrant “exceptionally low levels of the federal funds rate for an extended period.” Autodesk Inc., the biggest maker of engineering-design software, jumped 9.4 percent on profit and sales that beat analyst estimates. “The market is breathing a sigh of relief that he didn’t say anything hawkish,” said John Kattar, chief investment officer at Eastern Investment Advisors in Boston, which manages $1.6 billion. “The Fed is trying to walk a very fine line between satisfying the tremendous political pressures on them and maintaining credibility.” The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 1 percent to 1,105.02 at 10:49 a.m. in New York following its biggest decline in more than two weeks yesterday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 109.36 points, or 1.1 percent, to 10,391.77. U.S. stocks retreated yesterday after a gauge of consumer confidence decreased to the lowest level since April 2009, spurring concern the economic rebound will slow. The S&P 500 is down 4.8 percent since reaching a 15-month high on Jan. 19 as growing concern about widening budget gaps in Greece, Portugal and Spain helped spur a retreat. Recovery Bernanke began his semi-annual monetary policy testimony before the House Financial Services Committee as the Fed wrestles with unwinding economic stimulus programs without worsening an unemployment rate that the central bank forecasts at 9.5 percent to 9.7 percent in the fourth quarter. Autodesk jumped 9.4 percent to $28.07. Excluding some costs, profit was 30 cents a share. Sales were $456 million in the period, which ended Jan. 31. Analysts had estimated profit of 23 cents and sales of $432 million on average, according to a Bloomberg survey. Transocean Ltd. fell 2.4 percent to $82.46. The world’s largest offshore drilled reported fourth-quarter profit that was below analyst estimates amid waning demand for exploration rigs. Excluding one-time items such as gains and costs from the sale of a joint-venture stake, per-share profit was 13 percent less less than the average of 34 analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. H&R Block Inc. slid 17 percent to $16.34. The biggest U.S. tax preparer said it will miss its fiscal 2010 forecast as it processed fewer returns. Earnings Season Stec Inc. tumbled 22 percent to $10.47 in New York. The maker of flash-memory drives forecast a first-quarter adjusted loss of 11 cents to 13 cents a share. On average, the analysts surveyed by Bloomberg estimated profit of 23 cents. Deutsche Bank AG downgraded the shares to “hold” from “buy.” Verigy Ltd. plunged 7.5 percent to $10.03. The maker of semiconductor-testing equipment forecast second-quarter results ranging between a loss of 8 cents a share and earnings of 1 cent a share, excluding some items. On average, the analysts surveyed by Bloomberg estimated earnings of 2 cents. Earnings have topped analysts’ per-share estimates at three quarters of the 429 companies in the S&P 500 that have posted quarterly results since Jan. 11, according to Bloomberg data. The risk that a government funding crisis in Europe will spread across the Atlantic Ocean is declining, bolstering corporate bond markets in the U.S., credit-default swaps show. Since Feb. 10, the day before European Union President Herman Van Rompuy pledged to safeguard financial stability in the euro region, the cost to protect company debt in America from default has dropped 7.3 percent, while it fell 2.1 percent in Europe. In the five weeks before the statement, prices moved almost in lockstep with swaps climbing 34 percent in the U.S. and 35 percent in Europe, CMA Datavision data show.
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#1. To: war (#0)
Yeah, never mind the nation is in the shitter, all that matters to the left is their phony stock-market is doing well.
#2. To: Nebuchadnezzar, Badeye (#1)
You wanna take this one, Boof?
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