Morning Market Report 5/13/2014

The KUIK Morning Market Report for Tuesday, May 13:
Markets are up.
Index Direction Change Units Time Change
Dow Up                     26 points           16,722 6:58 AM
S&P500 Up 0.1% percent             1,898             1.42
Nasdaq Composite Down -0.1% percent             4,141            (2.85)
30 Year Treasury Down                      (4) Basis Points               3.46 Annual Yield
Small-business sentiment is up according to the  National Federation of Independent Business. Its small-business optimism index rose 1.8 points to 95.2, the first time it’s surpassed the 95 level since Oct. 2007. There were gains in seven of the 10 components, including a 9-point jump in those who expect the economy to improve. But  NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg said the reading “can only be characterized as a high-end recession reading.” The single-most important problem according to respondents, at 22%, was taxes, followed by government regulations and red tape at 20%, and poor sales at 15%.
The Commerce Department reports sales at retailers rose just 0.1% in April. Economists polled by MarketWatch expected a seasonally adjusted 0.4% increase. Consumer spending is the chief source of U.S. economic activity and retail sales account for about one-third of the purchases. However sales in March were revised up to 1.5% from 1.1%, for the biggest gain in four years. February sales were also slightly higher than originally reported.
Serving the West Side first, I am Bill Roller of BR Capital for AM 1360 KUIK.
http://blogs.marketwatch.com/capitolreport/2014/05/13/small-business-sentiment-climbs-in-may-to-more-than-six-year-high/
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/sales-at-us-retailers-barely-rise-in-april-2014-05-13
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