Stocks Edge Higher; Nasdaq Provides Momentum

Word on the Street

• British Petroleum (BP) has reached a major milestone on capping off a pipe that is pumping massive amounts of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Chief Executive Officer Tony Hayward said the company has cleared the riser from the top of the wellhead. The team is also working on completing the cleanup operations before capping the well.
• Whirlpool Corp (WHR) is recalling 1.7 million dishwashers sold at its US stores from February 2006 through April 2010 due to a potential fire hazard. The dishwashers have a faulty heating element that can short-circuit and ignite.
• Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke thinks that banks need to increase lending to small businesses to reduce the costs US joblessness is imposing on the economy. Outstanding loans to small businesses declined to $660 billion in the first quarter of 2010, from almost $700 billion two years ago.
• Automatic Data Processing reported that the economy gained a total of 55,000 private sector jobs in May. Job gains for April were revised sharply higher to 65,000 from 35,000. This is the fourth month in a row that ADP has reported job gains, but the numbers are modest relative to the size of the pool of unemployed.
• Ford Sheds Dead Weight – Ford Motor Company (F) continues to show a commitment to growth and securing a solid future with the decision to shut down one of the companies most historic brands: Mercury.
• The number of people applying for state unemployment benefits fell by 10,000 to 453,000 in the latest week. A consensus estimate of economists surveyed by Briefing.com expected 455,000 new claims for the week.
• AT&T (T) unveiled new 3G pricing plans that are aimed at making iPhone and iPad bills less expensive for most customers. The main difference between AT&T’s new plans and the old is that the word “unlimited” is now gone. The new plans provide a limit on how much data one gets for the money and fairly inexpensive alternatives for those who go over.
• Pending U.S. Home Sales Up – US pending home sales rose in April beyond expectations as buyers signed contracts to collect a government tax credit. The National Association of Realtors said Wednesday its seasonally adjusted index of sales agreements for previously occupied homes rose 6 percent in April from a month earlier to a reading of 110.9.
• General Motors Co. posted a 17 percent increase in May US sales , the first time the automaker topped analysts’ forecasts since January. It is the eighth consecutive month of sales increases for GM’s four core brands. Chevy sales were up 31% compared to a year ago. Buick sales were up 37%, GMC sales were up 26%, and Cadillac sales were up 54%.
• Sonic Purchases DivX- Should Apple be Worried? – Digital media company Sonic Solutions (SNIC) agreed to acquire video compression software maker DivX Inc for about $323 million in cash and stock.
• Target Corp. (TGT) confirmed yesterday that it will start selling Amazon.com Inc’s Kindle e-reader in all its stores. Consumers itching to get their hands on one should see them in stores on June 6 th . The company struck a deal with Amazon back in May to become the first bricks-and-mortar store to carry the popular e-reader.
• JPMorgan Chase (JPM) received an upgrade yesterday from UBS (UBS). The brokerage house raised the bank’s stock to buy from neutral. Shares of JPMorgan Chase rose 1.4% to $39.08 after the announcement.

Other Interesting Tidbits

• Is your retirement beyond help? – Some experts seem to understand that when you’re paying for diapers and day care, it’s nearly impossible to save for retirement. But can you catch up later?
• One Lump or Two? – Will the United States suffer a “double-dip” recession?
• The iPad And Dreamliner Economy – Apple isn’t the only innovator. From the heartland to the golden gate, American industry is alive with innovation from Caterpillar to Cisco.
• McMansion welfare : Why does government subsidize home ownership?
• 5 New Retailer Loyalty Lures – Retailers are pulling out all the stops to increase membership in their loyalty programs