May 21, 2012
News Release
Fort Wayne, Ind. -- Indiana Lt. Governor Becky Skillman is bringing the sixth annual Advancing Hoosier Women in Business seminar series to Fort Wayne on Friday, June 22. The event will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Greater Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce, with the Lt. Governor serving as the keynote speaker. More than 100 Northeast Indiana businesswomen are expected to attend, with a $25 registration fee that includes lunch and the entire program.
In addition to the Lt. Governors keynote speech at 10 a.m., the event will feature Deputy Chief Dottie Davis from the Fort Wayne Police Department sharing her story as the luncheon speaker. The 30-year police veteran serves as director of training for the police department and also owns Davis Corporate Training, Inc.
Several area businesswomen will also be a part of the Advancing Hoosier Women in Business seminar. A morning panel will consist of four successful local businesswomen who will share stories from their entrepreneurial journey. These panelists include Neco Beasley, owner of The House of Neco; Karen Goldner, president of Bowmar; Marilyn Moran-Townsend, chair and CEO of CVC Communications; and Cheryl Heller, president/owner of GIS, Inc.
An afternoon panel discussion will feature eight women representing various local and statewide business resources. Participants from state government agencies are Kristin Garvey, executive director of the Indiana Commission for Women, and Nancy Walker, certification coordinator for the Indiana Department of Administrations Minority & Womens Business Enterprises Division.
Five area women will present information on local and regional business resources, including: Anne Simerman, attorney at law, Barrett & McNagny LLP; Cheryl Blackman, executive director, Community Development Corporation of Northeast Indiana; Stephanie Veit, commercial lender, Three Rivers Federal Credit Union; Mary Popovich, business advisor/marketing coordinator, Northeast Indiana Small Business Development Center; Elissa McGauley, economic development specialist, City of Fort Wayne Community Development Division; and Michelle Merritt, vice president of member relations and communications, the Greater Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce.
The local seminar is being co-hosted by the Northeast Indiana Small Business Development Center (NEISBDC), the Indiana Office of Community & Rural Affairs (OCRA) and the Greater Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce.
Source: Greater Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce
US STOCKS-Wall St bounces but investors dump Facebook - Reuters
* Facebook stock falls nearly 14 pct to session low at $33
* World leaders back Greece, vow to combat crisis
* Apple stock boosts Nasdaq
* Dow up 0.8 pct, S&P up 1.3 pct, Nasdaq up 2.1 pct
By Edward Krudy
NEW YORK, May 21 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rebounded on Monday after their worst weekly decline of the year with signs that investors were quickly unloading Facebook shares following its broken IPO and redeploying capital elsewhere in the technology sector.
Facebook Inc's shares fell sharply below their $38 issue price as underwriters' support of the initial public offering faded after its Friday debut. The stock dropped more than $5, or 13.7 percent, to hit a session low of $33.00 in early trading. By early afternoon, the stock had regained a little of that loss, but was still down 9 percent at $34.80.
That contrasted with a sizeable rally in the rest of the Nasdaq, especially in shares of Apple, which rose 4.3 percent to $553.40. Apple's stock is off 13 percent from its most recent closing high in April, with about half of that loss coming in the week ahead of Facebook's IPO.
"You may have people that raised money to participate in Facebook by dumping other tech stocks that are now reversing it to free up the cash," said Jana Sampson, co-chief investment officer of OakBrook Investments in Lisle, Illinois
On Saturday, G8 leaders stressed that their "imperative is to promote growth and jobs" and gave verbal backing for Greece to stay in the euro. That helped improve sentiment after failed elections in Greece lifted speculation that the country was headed toward exiting the euro zone.
"We sold off on some fear, and not all of that fear was realized," said Frank Lesh, a futures analyst and broker at FuturePath Trading LLC in Chicago.
"We're in a bit of an oversold bounce in here at the moment and whether we're going to build on all of this, we'll find out this week. We're still hostage to European news and will be for the foreseeable future."
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 104.25 points, or 0.84 percent, to 12,473.63. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 16.99 points, or 1.31 percent, to 1,312.21. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 57.86 points, or 2.08 percent, to 2,836.65.
Another factor helping sentiment: China's premier called for additional efforts to support growth on Sunday, signaling Beijing's willingness to take action after a recent series of economic indicators suggested that the world's second-biggest economy will slow further in the second quarter.
Investors are watching the 1,300 to 1,290 range on the S&P 500 as a major support level, the lower end of which was tested last week after the benchmark index had fallen 7.8 percent since the end of April. The bottom of the range coincides with the S&P 500's 10-month moving average.
"The ability to find support near 1,290-1,300 can trigger buyers to return, igniting the next sustainable rally towards our 2012 target in the mid-1,400s and possibly overshoot to low-1,500s," UBS technical analysts said in a note to clients.
Facebook shares were expected to face tough trading this week if lead underwriter Morgan Stanley stops supporting the stock and managers listed lower down in the IPO book, who were hoping for an early surge, decide to get out before going underwater.
"It was just a poorly done deal, and it just so happens to be the biggest deal ever for Nasdaq, and they pooched it. That's the bottom line here," said Joe Saluzzi, co-manager of trading at Themis Trading in Chatham, New Jersey.
The Nasdaq said it plans to implement procedures through which the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) will accommodate orders not executed in Facebook during the social media company's market debut on Friday. Nasdaq shares gained 2.2 percent to $22.47 after falling more than 4 percent on Friday.
In earnings news, Lowe's Cos Inc, the world's second-largest home improvement chain, cut its fiscal-year earnings outlook and said demand slowed toward the end of the traditionally strong first quarter. The stock fell 9.6 percent to $25.75.
Yahoo shares rose 1.1 percent to $15.59 after news that Chinese Internet entrepreneur Jack Ma is buying back up to half of a 40 percent stake in his Alibaba Group from Yahoo for $7.1 billion in a deal that moves the Chinese e-commerce leader closer to a public listing.
3 Stocks Set to Soar - Daily Finance
There are plenty of strategies for picking stock winners, from finding low P/E stocks to seeking companies selling at a discount to their future cash flows. At the small-cap investment service Motley Fool Hidden Gems, even in this market, the analysts are able to stay ahead of the pack by finding undervalued stocks that Wall Street and investors have ignored.
But what if we could whittle down our list of prospects beforehand to find those whose engines are just getting warmed up?
Using our investor intelligence database at Motley Fool CAPS, I screened for stocks that were marked up by investors before their share prices rose over the past three months. My screen returned just 49 stocks when I ran it, no doubt reflecting the market's turmoil during that time, and included these recent winners:
| Stock | CAPS Rating 11/18/11 | CAPS Rating 2/17/12 | Trailing 13-Week Performance |
|---|---|---|---|
| XenoPort | ** | *** | 34.9% |
| PGT | ** | *** | 31.4% |
| Builders FirstSource | ** | *** | 29% |
Source: Motley Fool CAPS Screener; trailing performance from Feb. 17 to May 17.
While this screen might tell us which stocks we should have looked at three months ago, we'd rather find the stocks that we ought to be looking at today. I went back to the screener and looked for stocks that were just bumped up to three stars or better, sport valuations lower than the market's average, and haven't appreciated by more than 10% in the past month.
Of the 36 stocks the screen returned, here are three that are still attractively priced, but that investors think are ready to run today:
| Stock | CAPS Rating 2/17/12 | CAPS Rating 5/18/12 | Trailing 4-Week Performance | PE Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dollar General (NYS: DG) | ** | *** | (2%) | 27.0 |
| Pitney Bowes (NYS: PBI) | ** | *** | (22.8%) | 3.9 |
| WellCare Health Plans (NYS: WCG) | ** | *** | (17.6%) | 8.3 |
Source: Motley Fool CAPS Screener; price return from April 20 to May 17.
You can run your own version of this screen over on CAPS; just remember that the data's dynamically updated in real time, so your results may vary. That said, let's examine why investors might think these companies will go on to beat the market.
Dollar General
Deep discount dollar store Dollar General seems to think the well of deep value customers has been tapped -- if not dry, then about as much as it can, and it's now looking up-market for new customers. According to Investors Business Daily, the "trade-down customer," or those making an average of $75,000 annually and looking to the dollar stores for consumables, are Dollar General's latest target, and the segment has become its fastest-growing category.
Having been big beneficiaries of the recession, Motley Fool writer Lee Samaha says the General, Dollar Tree (NAS: DLTR) , and Family Dollar have seen their stocks priced accordingly and are no longer as cheap as they once were.
With a new target audience, though, there may be more growth potential than is first apparent at Dollar General. CAPS member calicofatcat says their new store strategy gives them a leg up on the competition, which might be why almost 90% of those rating the deep discounter believe it will outperform the market indexes. Add the General's stock to the Fool's free portfolio tracker to see if it will be discounted even more.
Pitney Bowes
With the U.S. Postal Service hemorrhaging red ink and doubts about its solvency still palpable, it's no surprise mail-metering specialist Pitney Bowes got crushed by its earnings results the other day. It counts the post office as its biggest customer and with digital communication supplanting the need to lick 'em and stick 'em, traditional mail service is likely to go the way of the typewriter.
Yet therein lies the value proposition for Pitney Bowes, which is focusing more of its investments into digital solutions. One example is it partnering with Facebook for geocoding technology to enhance messaging capabilities (though with Facebook regularly under assault for privacy violations, it could be argued allowing such precision as geocoding provides is not a welcome advance).
While its legacy services do seem akin to the buggy whip these days, CAPS member gimponthego believes Pitney Bowes dividend -- currently yielding more than 11% -- will be worth the wait for recovery. At less than seven times earnings and trading at half its sales, it does seem somewhat inexpensive, but let us know on the Pitney Bowes CAPS page if you expect the market to give it a stamp of approval again.
WellCare Health Plans
Having lost its Medicaid contract with the state of Ohio -- as did Amerigroup, Centene, and Molina Healthcare -- in favor of Aetna and UnitedHealth Group (NYS: UNH) , the strong earnings report WellCare Health Plans put out was overshadowed by the news. WellCare even raised its earnings guidance for the year, but still the stock has fallen.
The market may be misreading this one and unfairly lumping everyone together. Where Molina generated 22% of its revenues from the Ohio contract, only 4% of WellCare's revenues came from the state. Even having lost Missouri as well, that's only another 1% of total revenues. While it would be better to gain states instead of losing them, this might be yet another indication that the efficient markets theory might not be all it's cracked up to be.
Tell us on the WellCare Health Plans CAPS page, or in the comments section below, if you think this is a case of throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
Three for free
Are these companies still a good value and ready to make their move? I'm heading over to CAPS to mark them to outperform the broader averages. If you agree join me there, then check out this free report on dividend-paying stocks whose engines are all revved up. You can read it for free, but hurry, because it won't be around for long.
Stocks, oil rise as G8 leaders pledge growth - Reuters India
NEW YORK |
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Global stocks on Monday rebounded from lows for the year and oil prices rose for the first time in four sessions as world leaders emphasized support for growth in the euro zone, and China said priority should be given to maintaining its economic expansion.
Still, most investors and analysts see the pause in selling of stocks, oil and other commodities as temporary, given the uncertainties ahead for Greece, which holds national elections on June 17.
Risk that Greece might leave the euro zone curbed a recovery for the euro, which stabilized above its lowest level in about four months.
On Saturday, leaders of the Group of Eight nations stressed that their "imperative is to promote growth and jobs" for the euro zone, and expressed support for Greece to stay in the euro.
Despite calls from the United States for immediate moves to boost growth, no sign emerged that Germany would soften its stance on austerity as the cure for Europe's debt problems.
"We're in a bit of an oversold bounce in here at the moment and whether we're going to build on all of this we'll find out this week. We'll still be hostage to European news and will be for the foreseeable future," said Frank Lesh, a futures analyst and broker at FuturePath Trading LLC in Chicago.
The absence of negative news from Europe revived some appetite for U.S. equities despite a selloff of Facebook shares following its lackluster debut on Friday.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 135.10 points, or 1.09 percent, to close at 12,504.48. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 20.77 points, or 1.60 percent, to finish at 1,315.99. The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 68.42 points, or 2.46 percent, to close at 2,847.21.
U.S. stocks came off their worst weekly loss in a year as Facebook's sloppy debut on Friday disappointed investors. The social networking company's stock lost 11 percent on Monday to close at $34.03 on Monday. It fell as low as $33 - $5 below its initial offering price, wiping out $10 billion of its market value.
While Facebook shares faded after much fanfare, established technology companies did better, led by Apple Inc whose shares rose 5.8 percent to $561.28.
The FTSE Eurofirst index of top European shares closed up 0.5 percent at 975.04 after losing 5.1 percent last week to reach its lowest level of the year.
The MSCI world equity index rose 1.1 percent to 301.33. It clawed above where it started the year after erasing all the gains made due to a concerted round of easing by central banks in the first quarter.
Spain's prime minister said on Monday that urgent solutions were needed to guarantee financial stability in Europe. On Friday, Spain revised upward its estimated 2011 budget deficit.
Spanish benchmark 10-year bond yields held at 6.29 percent, while the 10-year Italian debt yield was flat at 5.94 percent. These long-term borrowing costs are seen as unsustainable for the euro zone's fourth- and third-largest economies, respectively.
The euro rose 0.25 percent in choppy trading to $1.2814, well above Friday's four-month low of $1.2642, which was not far from its lowest point for 2012.
The dollar index slipped 0.43 percent to 80.941 after touching its highest level since mid-January on Friday on heavy bids for the U.S. currency and other perceived safe-haven assets.
Nagging jitters over the financial contagion from the festering debt problem in Europe offset earlier profit-taking on U.S. and German government debt.
Benchmark U.S. Treasury yields touched historic lows and Bund futures hit contract highs last week on bids from nervous investors.
The 10-year U.S. Treasury note slipped 6/32 in price for a yield of 1.74 percent, just 7 basis points above its lowest intraday level in at least 60 years, while German Bund futures edged down 15 basis points to 143.49 after touching a contract high of 144.06 last week.
OIL RISES ON CHINA'S GROWTH STANCE
Signs that China, the world's second-largest economy, was willing to support measures to boost growth offset some of the euro-zone worries in global stocks and commodity markets.
"We should continue to implement a proactive fiscal policy and a prudent monetary policy while giving more priority to maintaining growth," Premier Wen Jiabao said in comments reported by state news agency Xinhua on Sunday.
Brent crude recovered from a 2012 low, on hopes the Chinese premier's announcement could mean strong fuel demand by the world's second-largest oil user, although concerns about the euro-zone crisis capped gains.
Brent gained for the first time in four sessions, rising $1.67, or 1.56 percent, to settle at $108.81 a barrel. In New York, U.S. June oil futures gained $1.09, or 1.19 percent, to end at $92.57 a barrel.
Three-month copper futures on the London Metal Exchange gained 1 percent to settle at $7,731 a tonne.
Spot gold prices last traded flat at $1,592.69 an ounce, erasing an earlier loss with a late bounce in the euro.
(Reporting by Ed Krudy and Richard Leong in New York, Richard Hubbard, Anirban Nag, Jessica Donati in London, Umesh Desai in Hong Kong; Editing by Jan Paschal)
As business suffers, David Cameron retreats - Daily Telegraph
Taken together, these two factors deter employers from recruiting new staff and hinder businesses from developing the higher productivity on which sustainable growth depends. And far from making things better, the past decade has seen a steady increase in the level and complexity of employment law. Beecroft’s report would have reduced the amount of regulation in a comprehensive and principled way – and, by doing so, would have introduced new certainty and confidence.
That confidence matters, because businesses are far too short of it at present. British businesses collectively hold about £750 billion in cash. To reach its fiscal targets, the Government needs a steep rise in investment – the rate at which they spend that money. Speaking last week, David Cameron said that he leads “a Government resolutely committed to being on the side of enterprise, entrepreneurs, businesses large and small, wealth creation of all types and descriptions”. To many, that is clearly not the case. A full-blooded Beecroft Review would reassure such people, just as a pale imitation would reinforce their concerns.
Taking a step back, today’s news adds to a sense of unease about what the Coalition is actually trying to achieve. This is a Government that claims to have deregulation at its heart, fired by a Tory belief in free markets and a Lib Dem distrust of central direction. It has a policy to stop the growth in regulation (so-called “One In, One Out”) and to reduce the stock of it (the “Red Tape Challenge”). In general, it is supposed to have rejected an old approach based on more debt and higher state spending, and to be looking for real growth via higher productivity.
Recently, however, we have seen a weakening in the Government’s position. Last autumn, the Chancellor pushed his deficit reduction target from the end of this Parliament into the middle of the next. Last week, the Prime Minister hinted at new borrowing to finance infrastructure – exactly the way that Gordon Brown justified his record spending increases. At the same time, the retreat over the NHS has cast a long shadow over the Coalition’s commitment to public-service reform, and its changes to the planning system are taking much longer than expected.
In recent days, the Prime Minister has urged his European counterparts to take action by saying that the eurozone is “at a crossroads”. He should hold his own Government to account in the same terms. Given the challenges facing the country, it is surprising that he needed an independent report to propose changes to employment law at all. Now that he has it, it will be remarkable if he does not implement it – and then keep up the pressure.
Mr Cameron is right that the country’s basic economic problems are due to poor productivity rather than lack of government action. He will know, however, that the contrary view is growing in popularity (and, indeed, capable of winning elections in other countries). The more his policies focus rigorously and consistently on improving the efficiency of the economy, the more successful they will be.
Andrew Haldenby is director of the independent think tank Reform
Stocks, euro rebound from year's lows - International Business Times
Still, most investors and analysts see the pause in selling of stocks and other risky assets as temporary, given the uncertainties ahead for Greece, which holds national elections on June 17.
On Saturday, leaders of the Group of Eight nations stressed that their "imperative is to promote growth and jobs" for the euro zone and expressed support for Greece to stay in the euro.
Despite calls from the United States for immediate moves to boost growth, no sign emerged that Germany would soften its stance on austerity as the cure for Europe's debt problems.
"We're in a bit of an oversold bounce in here at the moment and whether we're going to build on all of this we'll find out this week; we'll still be hostage to European news and will be for the foreseeable future," said Frank Lesh, a futures analyst and broker at FuturePath Trading LLC in Chicago.
The absence of negative news from Europe revived some appetite for U.S. shares despite the ongoing sell-off of Facebook
In midday trading, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 91.27 points, or 0.74 percent, at 12,460.65. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 14.56 points, or 1.12 percent, at 1,309.78. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 54.17 points, or 1.95 percent, at 2,832.96.
U.S. stocks came off their worst weekly loss in a year as Friday's sloppy debut by Facebook disappointed investors. The social networking company fell 11 percent to $33.98 (21.5 pounds) on Monday, a tad more than $4 below its initial offering price.
While Facebook shares faded after much fanfare, established technology companies did better, led by Apple Inc,
The FTSE Eurofirst index of top European shares was up 0.5 percent at 975.04 after losing 5.1 percent last week to reach its lowest level of the year.
The MSCI world equity index rose 0.9 percent. It is below where it started the year, having given up all the gains made after a concerted round of easing by central banks in the first quarter.
Spain added to fears of a spreading euro zone crisis on Friday when it revised up its estimated 2011 budget deficit to 8.9 percent of GDP from a previous 8.5 percent, a figure that was already higher than the original target of 6 percent of GDP.
Spanish benchmark 10-year bond yields held at 6.28 percent, while the 10-year Italian debt yield was flat at 5.93 percent. These long-term borrowing costs are seen as unsustainable for the euro zone's fourth- and third-largest economies, respectively.
The euro was up 0.02 percent 1.2784, well above Friday's four-month low of $1.2642, which was not far from its lowest point for 2012.
Nagging jitters over the financial contagion from the festering debt problem in Europe offset earlier profit-taking on U.S. and German government debt.
Benchmark U.S. Treasury yields touched historic lows and Bund futures hit contract highs last week on bids from nervous investors.
U.S. 10-year Treasury notes were down 4/32 in price for a yield of 1.74 percent, while German Bund futures edged down 6 basis points to 143.58.
CHINA PROMOTES GROWTH
Signs that China, the world's second-largest economy, was willing to support measures to boost growth offset some of the euro zone worries in global share and commodity markets.
"We should continue to implement a proactive fiscal policy and a prudent monetary policy while giving more priority to maintaining growth," Premier Wen Jiabao said in comments reported by state news agency Xinhua on Sunday.
"Remarks from the premier made during field trips are always in recognition that policymakers have noticed changes in economic fundamentals and are ready to respond," said Yao Wei, a Hong Kong-based economist with Societe Generale.
Wen's comments helped lift Asian shares, with Japan's Nikkei index gaining 0.3 percent after finishing its seventh straight week of losses on Friday.
Brent crude rose toward $108 per barrel, recovering from a 2012 low, on hopes the Chinese premier's announcement could mean strong fuel demand by the world's second-largest oil user, although concerns about the euro zone crisis capped gains.
Brent gained for the first time in four sessions, rising $1.29 cents to $108.43 a barrel. In New York, U.S. oil futures were up 80 cents at $92.28 a barrel.
Three-month copper futures on the London Metal Exchange settled 1.29 percent higher at $7,746.75 a tonne.
Spot gold prices dipped 0.05 percent to $1,590.78 an ounce after rising the previous two sessions.
(Reporting by Ed Krudy and Richard Leong in New York; Richard Hubbard, Anirban Nag, Jessica Donati in London; Umesh Desai in Hong Kong; Editing by Dan Grebler)
Indian stocks to watch-May 22 - Reuters UK
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Stocks gain on Wall Street; Facebook falls - Yahoo Finance
NEW YORK (AP) -- After a weekend that brought both fresh concerns about Europe and hopeful signs about China, investors decided to focus on the latter.
All the major U.S. stock indexes climbed, as investors latched on to weekend statements from China's Premier Wen Jiabao, who promised to boost the country's consumption rather than just try to curb inflation. That helped ease the disappointment of what many investors saw as an ambiguous conclusion to the weekend's G-8 meeting of world leaders, which produced statements promising to pursue growth in Europe but not much in the way of concrete plans for how to do so.
Caterpillar, which is heavily reliant on demand from China, rose 3 percent, just its fourth gain for the month of May. Several big-name financial firms, including Bank of America and Morgan Stanley, declined; bank stocks tend to fall when investors are concerned about Europe because of the banks' investments there.
The Dow rose 109 points, or 0.9 percent, to 12,478 shortly after noon Monday. That was a marked change from its recent performance, which has been crippled by Greece. This month Greece failed to elect a new government and is teetering close to leaving the euro.
Monday was the Dow's first gain after six straight days of losses, and only its third up day for May. Last week marked its worst weekly performance since November. The month has wiped out nearly three-quarters of the Dow's gains from January through March.
The other major stock indexes, the Standard & Poor's 500 and the Nasdaq composite, also climbed after days-long droughts.
Despite the broad gains, several well-known companies fell. Facebook plunged 10 percent on its second day as a public company, dropping below Friday's initial public offering price. JPMorgan Chase, under fire for a surprise trading loss, fell 3 percent after announcing it will stop buying back its own stock.
It wasn't clear if the gains represented a corner turned or a temporary moment of relief. Concerns about Europe flowed freely even after the weekend's G-8 summit at Camp David.
Germany's deputy finance minister on Monday derided a plan pushed by the new French president that would require Germany and other stronger European countries to fund "Eurobonds" to prop up weaker countries like Greece and Portugal. Bankia, a bank nationalized by the Spanish government, was ordered to come up with more money for possible bad loans.
Clark Yingst, chief market analyst for investment banking firm Joseph Gunnar in New York, said the G-8 meeting had done little to calm investors' fears. In fact, investors appear to be growing more worried that the European debt problems "might not be as manageable as they previously believed," Yingst said. "Today's rally has nothing to do with what is evolving around Greece."
Yingst was paying close attention to China, after Premier Wen promised to give more priority to boost any slowdown in the country's economic growth. China, the world's second-largest economy, has been instrumental in maintaining global growth as other parts of the world have stumbled through the past couple of years. Its economic growth fell to 8.1 percent in the first quarter — a point of envy for most other countries, but a three-year low for China.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note climbed slightly, a sign that investors were pulling out of bonds to invest in stocks. That's something they tend to do when they're more optimistic about the market.
It could also mean they're tired of the paltry returns on government bonds. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note is around 1.7 percent; the dividend yield on S&P 500 stocks is around 2.1 percent, said Jim Russell, chief equity strategist of U.S. Bank's wealth management unit in Cincinnati.
"Bonds are expensive and stocks are cheap," Russell said. "People are sniffing around for deals."
Russell said the market's performance will depend heavily on news that comes out of Europe. Leaders of the 27 European Union countries will hold an informal meeting in Brussels on Wednesday.
"That will be the key," Russell said. But, he added, "I think the central banks and governments still have gun powder that is dry."
Elsewhere, oil prices rose after Iraq's central government told its Kurdish leaders that they must get approval for their oil deals with Turkey.
Lowe's Cos., the world's second largest home improvement chain, slumped 10 percent after lowering its full-year earnings forecast. Campbell Soup fell 3 percent after reporting that its profit fell even after it spent more on marketing to try to attract busy, younger consumers.
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