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Nightly Recap 4-5-2010

Market Summary:
DOW      +46.48 (10,973.55)
S&P        +9.33 (1,187.43)
Nasdaq  +26.95 (2,429.53)
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Disclaimer:
Open Positions:  SRS at 5.97
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Nightly News Links

US Economy:

Recessionary Impact: Fewer Shopping Trips and Less Spending Per Trip (NielsenWire)
A consistent pattern of reduced shopping trips continues to be a major element of consumer’s economic coping strategies. In the latest battle for share of wallet, those retailers who satisfy consumers through differentiation will gain more of less. Retailers’ focus on store brands and price cuts helped keep spending levels in check driving more value for shoppers.

Gen X,Y Will Lead Economic Recovery (PWC)
As a result of recession-shrunk Baby Boomer household wealth, Generations X and Y will fuel the shopping growth needed to spur an economic recovery, according to [pdf] a new study from PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Kantar Retail.

ISM Services Jump (Econompic)
"Business conditions have returned to normal (pre-recession). Our business is up significantly since 2009. We are very positive about the upcoming year. "The economy appears to be holding its own; however, state and local funding is projected to decrease next fiscal year." (Educational Services) "Brisk business activity continues as more projects get 'green light.'" (Utilities) "Observing some relaxation on several fronts regarding spending and hiring. Still very cautious, but making investments where they make sense." (Retail Trade)

World Economy:

Greece 10 Years Back To Crisis Levels As Germany Refuses To Subsidize Greek Interest Rates (Zero Hedge)
Greece has been largely forgotten by the media over the past 2 weeks. This is somewhat perplexing in light of what is happening over in Europe: 1) Greek 10 Year spreads are back to crisis levels, hitting 6.53% today, 50 bps higher than the sub 6% reached in early March when speculation that the EU would fix everything; 2) German disagreements with other eurozone countries on the shape of the Greek bailout are getting more acute by the day, and this is nearly a month after the European "bailout" has been announced.

Interesting Links:

Facebook vs The United States (InfoGraphic) (Mashable)
To find out more about the average American Facebook user and how he or she compares to the average American, we dug a little further. After crunching the numbers and comparing the data, this is what we found (Check link above).

Wikileaks leaked video of Civilians killed in Baghdad - Full video (!Warning! Video is Very Graphic)
After much speculation that it was nothing but a red herring, Wikileaks, which has recently gotten some substantial press coverage on both sides, has finally released a classified video leaked by "a number of military whistleblowers" which depicts "the indiscriminate slaying of over a dozen people in the Iraqi suburb of New Baghdad, including two Reuters news staff."

Sorry for missing a few days of recaps but with the April Fools combo and Easter I wasn't able to.
Have a Good Night

-K