NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Dow industrials lost more than 300 points in a sell-off on Wednesday that drove all major stock indexes down over 2 percent in the wake of the presidential election as investors' focus shifted to the looming "fiscal cliff" debate and Europe's economic troubles.
The Standard & Poor's 500 Index posted its biggest daily percentage drop since June, with all 10 S&P sectors solidly lower and about 80 percent of stocks on both the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq ending in negative territory. Both the Dow and the S&P 500 closed at their lowest levels since early August.
Financial stocks and energy shares, two sectors that could face increased regulation after President Barack Obama's re-election, were the weakest on the day. The S&P financial index (.GSPF) lost 3.5 percent, while the S&P energy index (REU:^GSPEI) fell 3.1 percent. An S&P index of technology shares (.GSPT) slid 2.8 percent as the stock of Apple Inc (AAPL) entered bear market territory.
Obama's victory had been anticipated, though many polls indicated a close race between the president and Mitt Romney, his Republican challenger, going into election day.
The election was considered a major source of uncertainty for the market, but now the focus turns to the fiscal cliff, with investors worrying that if no deal is reached over some $600 billion in spending cuts and tax increases due to kick in early next year, it could derail the economic recovery.
The Republican Party retained control of the U.S. House of Representatives, while the Senate remained under Democratic control.
David Joy, chief market strategist at Ameriprise Financial in Boston, said this kind of divided government was disappointing "since that configuration has resulted in gridlock and there's no clear path towards unlocking that.
"It holds implications for how quickly we resolve the fiscal cliff issue, or whether it gets resolved at all," said Joy, who helps oversee $571 billion in assets.
The market's losses were broad, with pessimism exacerbated by overseas concerns after the European Commission said the region would barely grow next year, dashing hopes for improvement in the short term.
Still, some viewed the day's slide as a buying opportunity, saying it was unlikely that no deal would be reached on the fiscal cliff and arguing that Europe's troubles were already priced into markets.
"There's no question that Europe is lagging the rest of the developed and emerging world, but stocks will find a base soon, when investors start seeing through some of the smoke over the region and cliff," said Richard Weiss, who helps oversee about $120 billion in assets as a senior money manager at American Century Investments in Mountain View, California.
The Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI) slid 312.95 points, or 2.36 percent, to close at 12,932.73. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (^GSPC) fell 33.86 points, or 2.37 percent, to 1,394.53. The Nasdaq Composite Index (^IXIC) lost 74.64 points, or 2.48 percent, to close at 2,937.29.
The S&P 500 closed below the key 1,400 level for the first time since August 30, while the Dow ended under 13,000 for the first time since August 2.
About 7.81 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, slightly below last year's daily average of 7.84 billion, though Wednesday's volume did surpass that of many recent sessions.
Contributing to the Nasdaq's decline, Apple shares fell 3.8 percent to $558, off 20.8 percent from an all-time intraday high of $705.07 set on September 21. That slump puts the stock of the world's most valuable publicly traded company in bear market territory.
Despite Wednesday's sell-off, all three major U.S. stock indexes were still up for the year. At Wednesday's close, the Dow was up 5.9 percent for 2012 so far, while the S&P 500 was up 10.9 percent and the Nasdaq was up 12.8 percent.
Wednesday's plunge was a reversal from Tuesday's rally when voting was under way. Defense and energy shares were among the market leaders that day, causing speculation that some investors were betting on a Romney win.
On Wednesday, an index of defense shares (.DFX) fell 2.9 percent, its biggest one-day drop in a year. Shares of United Technologies (UTX) dropped 2.9 percent to $77.68 while Lockheed Martin (LMT) sank 3.9 percent to $91.15.
Energy shares fell as investors bet that the industry may see increased regulation in Obama's second term, with less access to federal lands and water. Crude oil shed more than 4 percent while an index of coal companies (.DJUSCL) plunged 8.8 percent. Coal firms Peabody Energy (BTU) lost 9.6 percent to $26.24 and Arch Coal (ACI) sank 12.5 percent to $7.58.
Among financials, JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM) fell 5.6 percent to $40.46 and Goldman Sachs (GS) dropped 6.6 percent to $117.98.
"The notion that you may have gotten a respite on the financial services side (with regulation) if Romney had been elected is obviously being unwound," said Mike Ryan, chief investment strategist at UBS Wealth Management Americas in New York.
Healthcare stocks were mixed as President Obama's re-election rules out the possibility of a wholesale repeal of his healthcare reform law, though questions remain as to what parts of the domestic policy will be implemented. The S&P health care index (REU:^GSPAI) shed 1.9 percent. In contrast, Tenet Healthcare (THC) was the S&P 500's biggest percentage gainer, up 9.6 percent at $27.34.
In 2008, stocks also rallied on election day, but then fell by the largest margin on record for a day following the vote, with each of the three major U.S. stock indexes posting losses ranging from 5 percent to 5.5 percent.
After the bell, both Qualcomm Inc (QCOM) and Whole Foods Market Inc (WFM) reported results. Qualcom's revenue beat expectations, sending shares up 8 percent to $62.75 in extended trading, while Whole Foods dropped 3.3 percent to $92.75 after the bell. In the regular session, Qualcomm slid 3.7 percent to close at $58.12, while Whole Foods dropped 2.1 percent to $95.93.
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Coal company announces layoffs in response to Obama win
Label: BusinessA coal company headed by a prominent Mitt Romney donor has laid off more than 160 workers in response to President Obama's election victory.
Murray Energy said Friday that it had been "forced" to make the layoffs in response to the bleak prospects for the coal industry during Obama's second term. In a prayer circulated by the company, CEO Robert Murray said Americans had voted "in favor of redistribution, national weakness and reduced standard of living and lower and lower levels of personal freedom."
"The American people have made their choice. They have decided that America must change its course, away from the principals of our Founders," Murray said in the prayer, which was delivered in a meeting with staff members earlier this week.
"Lord, please forgive me and anyone with me in Murray Energy Corporation for the decisions that we are now forced to make to preserve the very existence of any of the enterprises that you have helped us build."
Murray cited pending regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency and the possibility of a carbon tax as factors that could lead to the "total destruction of the coal industry by as early as 2030."
In August, Murray shuttered an operation in Ohio, again blaming the Obama Administration and its alleged "war on coal."
Mitt Romney echoed this line on the campaign trail, accusing Obama of undermining the country's energy security.
Administration officials responded to these attacks by affirming that Obama supports "clean coal." They also pointed out that more coal miners were on the job in the U.S. this year than at any time since 1997, and that U.S. coal exports have risen 31%.
Domestically, however, coal production has dropped sharply, falling roughly 15% in 2011 versus years prior, according to the National Mining Association.
But the industry's woes go way beyond Obama's policies.
Utility companies are increasingly ditching coal in favor of cheaper, cleaner natural gas. In addition, the recession and improved energy efficiency have crimped demand for power.
Looking ahead, the coal industry faces a rule going into effect in 2015 that tightens the amount of mercury coal plants can emit, as well as regulations on mountain-top mining. Both will make coal production and coal-fired power plants more expensive.
The rules themselves are not Obama's doing, although he has implemented them fairly quickly. Most stem from the Clean Air Act, which was signed by Richard Nixon and strengthened during the first Bush presidency.
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U.S. to Pass Saudi Arabia in Energy Production, IEA Says: Huge Foreign Policy, Economic Implications
Label: BusinessA new report by the International Energy Association says the U.S. will become the world's largest oil producer by 2017, overtaking current leaders Saudi Arabia and Russia. U.S. energy policies initiated by the George W. Bush administration and implemented by President Barack Obama have moved the U.S. toward energy independence and away from Middle East energy sources. U.S. oil production has risen rapidly since 2008 and oil imports are at their lowest level in two decades.
"North America is at the forefront of a sweeping transformation in oil and gas production that will affect all regions of the world, yet the potential also exists for a similarly transformative shift in global energy efficiency," says IEA Executive Director Marian von der Hoeven in a statement.
The IEA also says the U.S. could become self-sufficient in energy by 2035 and a net exporter of natural gas by 2020. The Obama administration's push to develop and grow domestic natural gas capabilities has led to a natural gas drilling boom. Production has jumped 15% in four years but the glut in natural gas supplies have also caused the price of natural gas to plummet. According to the White House, the U.S. holds a 100-year supply of natural gas and domestic production is at an all-time high. The Daily Ticker's Aaron Task and Henry Blodget both agree that the explosion in domestic energy production could alter the geopolitical landscape and U.S. labor market.
"The foreign policy implications are maybe even bigger than the economic ones," says Task.
"For 50 years or more we have been just addicted and coupled to a region of the world where so many people hate us," Blodget adds.
Oil and petroleum imports have fallen an average of more than 1.5 million barrels per day and domestic crude oil production has increased by an average of more than 720,000 barrels per day since 2008. As domestic drilling has expanded so has the number of oil and gas production jobs. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, job growth in these industries has risen 25% since January 2010.
Related: The Fracking Revolution: More Jobs and Cheaper Energy Are Worth the "Manageable" Risks, Yergin Says
President Obama says natural gas production could support 600,000 jobs by the end of the decade. Most of these positions are highly desirable from a financial standpoint. Drilling and support jobs pay about $34.50 an hour, 50% more than the national average according to The New York Times.
Cheap natural gas and the administration's eagerness to expand U.S. energy production has shifted resources away from green energy technologies like solar and wind.
Related: Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: Renewable Energy Is Key to U.S. Growth
The method of extracting natural gas from shale rock formations has come under intense scrutiny. Many local cities and communities have already banned the practice. Hydraulic fracturing, more commonly referred to as hydrofracking or fracking, involves injecting large amounts of sand, water and chemicals into the ground at high pressures. Critics of fracking say this process produces millions of gallons of wastewater that contain highly corrosive salts and carcinogens. These radioactive elements could pollute water sources such as rivers and underground aquifers and pose serious dangers to the environment and individuals.
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Eurozone back in recession in Q3
Label: BusinessLONDON (AP) -- The 17-country eurozone has bowed to the inevitable and fallen back into recession for the first time in three years as a sprawling debt crisis took its toll on the region's stronger economies.
And with surveys pointing to increasingly depressed conditions across the eurozone at a time of high unemployment in many countries, there are fears that the recession will deepen, and make the debt crisis even more difficult to handle.
Official figures Thursday showed that the eurozone contracted by 0.1 percent in the July to September period from the quarter before as economies including Germany and the Netherlands suffer from falling demand.
The decline reported by Eurostat, the EU's statistics office, was in line with market expectations and follows on from the 0.2 percent fall recorded in the second quarter. As a result, the eurozone is officially in recession, commonly defined as two straight quarters of falling output.
"We can dispense with the euphemisms and equivocation, and openly proclaim that the euro area economy is indeed in technical recession," said James Ashley, senior European economist at RBC Capital Markets.
Because of the eurozone's grueling three-year debt crisis, the region has the focus of concern for the world economy. The eurozone's economy is worth around €9.5 trillion, or $12.1 trillion, which puts it on a par with the U.S. economy. The region, with its 332 million population, is the U.S.'s largest export customer, and any fall-off in demand will hit order books.
While the U.S has managed to bounce back from its own savage recession in 2008-09, albeit inconsistently, and China continues to post still-strong growth, Europe's economies have been on a downward spiral — and there is little sign of any improvement in the near-term.
The eurozone has managed to avoid returning to recession for the first time since the financial crisis following the collapse of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers, mainly thanks to the strength of its largest single economy, Germany.
But even that country is struggling now as confidence wanes and exports drain in light of the debt problems afflicting large chunks of the eurozone.
Germany's economy grew a muted 0.2 percent in the third quarter, down from a 0.3 percent increase in the previous quarter. Over the past year, Germany's annual growth rate has more than halved to 0.9 percent from 1.9 percent.
Perhaps the most dramatic decline among the eurozone's members was seen in the Netherlands, whose economy shrank 1.1 percent on the previous quarter.
Five eurozone countries are in recession — Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Cyprus. Those five are also at the center of Europe's debt crisis and are imposing austerity measures, such as cuts to pensions and increases to taxes, in an attempt to stay afloat.
As well as hitting workers' incomes and living standards, these measures have also led to a decline in economic output and a sharp increase in unemployment.
Spain and Greece have unemployment rates of over 25 percent. Their young people are faring even worse with every other person out of work. As well as being a cost to governments who have to pay out more for benefits, it carries a huge social and human cost.
Protests across Europe on Wednesday highlighted the scale of discontent and with economic surveys pointing to the downturn getting worse, the voices of anger may well get louder still.
"The likelihood is that this anger will continue to grow unless European leaders and policymakers start to act as if they have a clue as to how to resolve the crisis starting to unravel before their eyes," said Michael Hewson, markets analyst at CMC Markets.
The wider 27-nation EU, which includes non-euro countries, avoided the same fate. It saw output rise 0.1 percent during the quarter, largely on the back of an Olympics-related boost in Britain.
The EU's output as a whole is greater than the U.S. It is also a major source of sales for the world's leading companies. Forty percent of McDonald's global revenue comes from Europe - more than it generates in the U.S. General Motors, meanwhile, sold 1.7 million vehicles in Europe last year, a fifth of its worldwide sales.
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Are We Regulating Ourselves Back Into Recession?
Label: BusinessLet us put an end to self-inflicted wounds," President Gerald Ford told Congress in 1975. "And let us remember that our national unity is a most priceless asset." While Ford was talking about the scars from the Vietnam War, his words seem relevant today. Our nation grapples with not one divisive issue, but a basket of them, each pulling and undermining our already battered confidence, while testing our resolve and straining the limits of logic.
What are we doing to ourselves, America?
In just two short weeks, instead of closing the books after a bruising election, we've not only kept the rancor alive but have doubled down on it. In this morning's papers alone, I easily counted a dozen different areas of discourse before growing tired of it all. As my colleague Mike Santoli and I discuss in the attached video, with so much going on — and with so much wrong — is it any wonder stocks are moving in reverse at a fast clip since the second quarter correction.
"It feels like a particularly heavy round of one of these anti-business — or at least calling business to task — moments," Santoli says in the face of my long and growing list of negatives, which include higher taxes, the fiscal cliff, the Benghazi aftermath, turnover at the CIA, federal probes of FedEx and UPS over mail-order medicine, BP's record fine, further investigation into banks for money laundering, as well as another round of mandatory stress testing.
Before you go off and call me some kind of zero-regulation advocate or pessimist, all I am saying is that it strikes me as slightly counterproductive to be building up and and tearing down the banks at the same time. And Santoli seems to agree, saying that it is alarming to see how much banks have to spend on compliance, legal and regulatory issues, calling it a "massive weight."
As much as we had recently been gaining some degree of comfort over the economy, housing and jobs, it suddenly seems as if we're doing everything wrong.
''Is it ever going to be a good time to cinch up tax rates?" Santoli questions. Obviously the answer is no, and yet the markets cling to the belief that our elected officials will break ranks and reach some sort of last-minute grand bargain solution.
Maybe I am just being cynical, but I am of the mind that no major changes will emerge without first going through a period of calamity. Santoli is a smidge more optimistic, however, clinging to a ''residual hope'' that the President has a ''Nixon-to-China moment" and that his second term is not about fighting individual, ideological fight. "That is the distant hope you have to hold," he says.
How about you? Have you given up hope in the face of so much negativity?
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What It's Like as a Rival NFL Fan Living in the Bay Area
Label: SportsFootball fans stay fans for life, but occasionally in life, people move. Despite relocation, fans stay true to their hometown team. It must be difficult for a fan to remain loyal when living in rival or enemy territory. But with the San Francisco Bay Area home to both the San Francisco 49ers and the Oakland Raiders, there are plenty of rival fans around. Here's what a few of them had to say about what it's like to cheer for the other guys while living in the Bay Area.
St. Louis and San Francisco: Friendly Division Rivals ... For Now
Sam Herald, San Francisco resident since 1998 and St. Louis Rams fan, explained, "The Bay Area is an incredible place to live with a vibrant sports scene. The fans are, for the most part, very pleasant to be around. As an L.A. native, it has been pretty easy to be a fan of the Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams mostly because of the lack of competitiveness of the two teams of the past few years. Though the 49ers are now a much more improved team, my dear Rams are still behind the times. For now, 49ers fans are mostly amicable, though it might change should both teams be on the same page in the coming years."
Raider Nation Friendlier Than Expected for This Broncos Fan
"Despite playing in the same division, the Raiders and Denver Broncos rivalry hasn't really been too heated since John Elway. I feel no fear or apprehension to wear a Broncos jersey out in public or even to Raiders games. There are a few football bars where I go to watch on Sundays, and it is easy to sit and share a beer with members of the Raiders Nation. Though on TV they look to be relentless fanatics, every Raiders fan I've interacted with has been a football comrade at arms," said Philip Monroe, a Denver Broncos fan who's lived in Oakland since 2003.
Relaxed Kansas City/Oakland Rivalry
"I get intense football fans. I know it's a very popular sport, but most of the fans I know are very casual. They watch games when they can but don't buy season tickets, don't go to any team events, and rarely sport their team's attire. The Bay Area is the same, no fault to them, but in Kansas City, everyone is a Chiefs fan. Here, there are Raiders and 49ers fans, but other than a few nuts at the games, it is a pretty relaxed fan base," said Jillian Reynolds, San Francisco resident since 1990 and Kansas City Chiefs fan. "I know Chiefs and Raiders fans are supposed to loathe one another, but until both teams start actually playing football well, I don't see an intense rivalry brewing anytime soon."
Rivalry Between Seahawks and 49ers Heating Up
"I love football, and I love the Seahawks. In my 10 or so years in the Bay Area, I've been to a few dozen football games, including all the matchups with the Seahawks. There are always some raucous fans, and I do get a few jabs from 49ers fans when I wear my jersey. All in all, football is football is football, and in the end, a good football game amongst enemies is far superior to a bad game with friends. Every time I see the 49ers and Seahawks play, the atmosphere is electric, and the games are competitive. I wouldn't turn that down despite being in hostile territory," said Paul Harris, a San Francisco resident since 1999 and Seattle Seahawks fan.
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St. Louis and San Francisco: Friendly Division Rivals ... For Now
Sam Herald, San Francisco resident since 1998 and St. Louis Rams fan, explained, "The Bay Area is an incredible place to live with a vibrant sports scene. The fans are, for the most part, very pleasant to be around. As an L.A. native, it has been pretty easy to be a fan of the Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams mostly because of the lack of competitiveness of the two teams of the past few years. Though the 49ers are now a much more improved team, my dear Rams are still behind the times. For now, 49ers fans are mostly amicable, though it might change should both teams be on the same page in the coming years."
Raider Nation Friendlier Than Expected for This Broncos Fan
"Despite playing in the same division, the Raiders and Denver Broncos rivalry hasn't really been too heated since John Elway. I feel no fear or apprehension to wear a Broncos jersey out in public or even to Raiders games. There are a few football bars where I go to watch on Sundays, and it is easy to sit and share a beer with members of the Raiders Nation. Though on TV they look to be relentless fanatics, every Raiders fan I've interacted with has been a football comrade at arms," said Philip Monroe, a Denver Broncos fan who's lived in Oakland since 2003.
Relaxed Kansas City/Oakland Rivalry
"I get intense football fans. I know it's a very popular sport, but most of the fans I know are very casual. They watch games when they can but don't buy season tickets, don't go to any team events, and rarely sport their team's attire. The Bay Area is the same, no fault to them, but in Kansas City, everyone is a Chiefs fan. Here, there are Raiders and 49ers fans, but other than a few nuts at the games, it is a pretty relaxed fan base," said Jillian Reynolds, San Francisco resident since 1990 and Kansas City Chiefs fan. "I know Chiefs and Raiders fans are supposed to loathe one another, but until both teams start actually playing football well, I don't see an intense rivalry brewing anytime soon."
Rivalry Between Seahawks and 49ers Heating Up
"I love football, and I love the Seahawks. In my 10 or so years in the Bay Area, I've been to a few dozen football games, including all the matchups with the Seahawks. There are always some raucous fans, and I do get a few jabs from 49ers fans when I wear my jersey. All in all, football is football is football, and in the end, a good football game amongst enemies is far superior to a bad game with friends. Every time I see the 49ers and Seahawks play, the atmosphere is electric, and the games are competitive. I wouldn't turn that down despite being in hostile territory," said Paul Harris, a San Francisco resident since 1999 and Seattle Seahawks fan.
Indy hoping to make most of 2nd chance at playoffs
Label: SportsINDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indianapolis allowed one postseason-clinching chance to slip away at Houston.
It doesn't intend to let the same thing happen again at Kansas City.
"It's the playoffs. This is the playoffs," interim coach Bruce Arians said before Wednesday's practice began.
For the Colts (9-5), this is a rare second chance in a league where players and teams risk being left behind any time they miss an opportunity.
Just ask the Chicago Bears, 7-1 at midseason and now fighting just to make the playoffs. Or the Baltimore Ravens, who were in contention to earn the AFC's top seed three weeks ago. Or quarterback Alex Smith, who led San Francisco to last year's NFC championship game and a 6-2-1 record this season before losing his starting job to Colin Kaepernick.
The Colts are not looking back after making a historic turnaround.
They didn't complain when team owner Jim Irsay and new general manager Ryan Grigson started over in March by cutting team captains Peyton Manning and Gary Brackett, letting Jeff Saturday and Pierre Garcon walk away in free agency and opting to rebuild through the draft and with a handful of players who needed another chance to prove they belonged in the NFL.
They ignored the critics who pegged them as the league's worst team in training camp and projected three wins at best. They didn't despair after returning from a bye week and were told coach Chuck Pagano was taking an indefinite leave after being diagnosed with leukemia.
So they're sure not going to let the 29-17 loss at Houston linger.
Instead, they're focused on their next task — beating the reeling Chiefs (2-12), who have barely averaged 10 points per game and were shut out in Oakland last weekend.
"There's a playoff spot at stake, so it's win or go home," outside linebacker Robert Mathis said. "We can't go out and lay an egg like we did last week."
It's a simple scenario for the Colts.
Indy makes it in with a win over the Chiefs or in the season-finale against Houston (12-2) or if the Steelers (7-7) lose one of their two remaining games — Sunday at Cincinnati (8-6) or the final week against Cleveland (5-9).
But the Colts are chasing more than just a playoff spot.
A win would help them regain some momentum heading into January, allow Arians to tie the NFL record for victories after a midseason coaching change, make the Colts one of only four teams in league history to go from two or fewer wins one season to 10 or more the next, and, of course, take the pressure off Pagano if he returns to the locker room Monday as players, coaches and team officials are hoping.
Almost from the moment Pagano began chemotherapy treatments in late September, Arians and Indy's upper management targeted the Dec. 30 game as Pagano's return. With that game fast approaching, Arians has said twice this week that nothing is certain yet.
Arians said he is eager to go back to working just one job, offensive coordinator.
"Hopefully we can get this victory and secure our playoff spot and turn it back over to Chuck," he said.
Players can't wait, either.
"It would be great, I'm sure it would be emotional for a lot of people if it comes (next week)," rookie quarterback Andrew Luck said. "Hopefully, it will be soon. It will be great to have him back."
Pagano may not be the only one making a return in the next few days.
Starting safety Tom Zbikowski has missed the last three games with a knee injury. On Monday, Arians ruled him out for the Chiefs game. On Wednesday, Arians acknowledged the prognosis had improved and said Zbikowski was questionable. He did dress for practice Wednesday.
"He's moving around really well, so he is not out as I reported earlier this week," Arians said.
Yet there are plenty of other concerns, especially along the offensive line where starting center Samson Satele is out with an ankle injury and right tackle Winston Justice (biceps) and backup center A.Q. Shipley (right knee) are both questionable.
If Satele and Shipley don't play, Arians will move right guard Mike McGlynn to center and the rest of the Colts will adapt again — just as they have all season.
"I think guys understand what's at stake," Luck said. "There's a little more of a sense of urgency in terms of what to expect, but it is kind of like the playoffs."
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It doesn't intend to let the same thing happen again at Kansas City.
"It's the playoffs. This is the playoffs," interim coach Bruce Arians said before Wednesday's practice began.
For the Colts (9-5), this is a rare second chance in a league where players and teams risk being left behind any time they miss an opportunity.
Just ask the Chicago Bears, 7-1 at midseason and now fighting just to make the playoffs. Or the Baltimore Ravens, who were in contention to earn the AFC's top seed three weeks ago. Or quarterback Alex Smith, who led San Francisco to last year's NFC championship game and a 6-2-1 record this season before losing his starting job to Colin Kaepernick.
The Colts are not looking back after making a historic turnaround.
They didn't complain when team owner Jim Irsay and new general manager Ryan Grigson started over in March by cutting team captains Peyton Manning and Gary Brackett, letting Jeff Saturday and Pierre Garcon walk away in free agency and opting to rebuild through the draft and with a handful of players who needed another chance to prove they belonged in the NFL.
They ignored the critics who pegged them as the league's worst team in training camp and projected three wins at best. They didn't despair after returning from a bye week and were told coach Chuck Pagano was taking an indefinite leave after being diagnosed with leukemia.
So they're sure not going to let the 29-17 loss at Houston linger.
Instead, they're focused on their next task — beating the reeling Chiefs (2-12), who have barely averaged 10 points per game and were shut out in Oakland last weekend.
"There's a playoff spot at stake, so it's win or go home," outside linebacker Robert Mathis said. "We can't go out and lay an egg like we did last week."
It's a simple scenario for the Colts.
Indy makes it in with a win over the Chiefs or in the season-finale against Houston (12-2) or if the Steelers (7-7) lose one of their two remaining games — Sunday at Cincinnati (8-6) or the final week against Cleveland (5-9).
But the Colts are chasing more than just a playoff spot.
A win would help them regain some momentum heading into January, allow Arians to tie the NFL record for victories after a midseason coaching change, make the Colts one of only four teams in league history to go from two or fewer wins one season to 10 or more the next, and, of course, take the pressure off Pagano if he returns to the locker room Monday as players, coaches and team officials are hoping.
Almost from the moment Pagano began chemotherapy treatments in late September, Arians and Indy's upper management targeted the Dec. 30 game as Pagano's return. With that game fast approaching, Arians has said twice this week that nothing is certain yet.
Arians said he is eager to go back to working just one job, offensive coordinator.
"Hopefully we can get this victory and secure our playoff spot and turn it back over to Chuck," he said.
Players can't wait, either.
"It would be great, I'm sure it would be emotional for a lot of people if it comes (next week)," rookie quarterback Andrew Luck said. "Hopefully, it will be soon. It will be great to have him back."
Pagano may not be the only one making a return in the next few days.
Starting safety Tom Zbikowski has missed the last three games with a knee injury. On Monday, Arians ruled him out for the Chiefs game. On Wednesday, Arians acknowledged the prognosis had improved and said Zbikowski was questionable. He did dress for practice Wednesday.
"He's moving around really well, so he is not out as I reported earlier this week," Arians said.
Yet there are plenty of other concerns, especially along the offensive line where starting center Samson Satele is out with an ankle injury and right tackle Winston Justice (biceps) and backup center A.Q. Shipley (right knee) are both questionable.
If Satele and Shipley don't play, Arians will move right guard Mike McGlynn to center and the rest of the Colts will adapt again — just as they have all season.
"I think guys understand what's at stake," Luck said. "There's a little more of a sense of urgency in terms of what to expect, but it is kind of like the playoffs."
NFL-Giants' Cruz calls Newtown visit a revelation
Label: SportsEAST RUTHERFORD, N.J., Dec 19 (Reuters) - A visit with the grief-stricken family of a six-year-old victim from last week's Connecticut elementary school massacre has left New York Giants receiver Victor Cruz looking at life through a different lens.
The National Football League player said on Wednesday the 75-minute visit to the home of six-year-old Giants fan Jack Pinto, who was a buried in a replica Cruz jersey, has altered his view on life.
"When you visit a family going through so much, facing so much turmoil in their lives ... it just helps you look at life through a different lens," Cruz, who drove to Connecticut with his girlfriend and infant daughter on Tuesday, told reporters. "It really changes your view of the way you look at things."
Pinto was among 26 people, including 20 schoolchildren, who were killed by a gunman at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, last Friday.
When Cruz heard about the child's devotion to him, he reached out to the family and wrote "RIP Jack Pinto" on the cleats he wore in Sunday's game against the Atlanta Falcons.
He was met outside the Pinto residence by the child's family, neighborhood kids and the local youth football team.
"Once I got there, I saw the kids there with my jersey on and I saw the family outside. They were still pretty emotional, crying, so I saw how affected they were by just my presence alone," said Cruz, one of the Giants' top players.
"I got out and gave them the cleats and the gloves. The older brother (11-year-old Ben) was still very emotional. I gave the cleats to him and signed stuff for the kids and then went inside. ... It was an emotional time."
"We got to smile a little bit, which was good for them. It was a time where I just wanted to be a positive voice ... they are a really great family."
Cruz's effort to try and comfort the family impressed Giants head coach Tom Coughlin.
"That family will remember that all their days. Hopefully, at least some of their grief may temporarily be spent, in being able to embrace Victor Cruz," said Coughlin. "The fact that he went and did that speaks volumes about what he has inside.
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The National Football League player said on Wednesday the 75-minute visit to the home of six-year-old Giants fan Jack Pinto, who was a buried in a replica Cruz jersey, has altered his view on life.
"When you visit a family going through so much, facing so much turmoil in their lives ... it just helps you look at life through a different lens," Cruz, who drove to Connecticut with his girlfriend and infant daughter on Tuesday, told reporters. "It really changes your view of the way you look at things."
Pinto was among 26 people, including 20 schoolchildren, who were killed by a gunman at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, last Friday.
When Cruz heard about the child's devotion to him, he reached out to the family and wrote "RIP Jack Pinto" on the cleats he wore in Sunday's game against the Atlanta Falcons.
He was met outside the Pinto residence by the child's family, neighborhood kids and the local youth football team.
"Once I got there, I saw the kids there with my jersey on and I saw the family outside. They were still pretty emotional, crying, so I saw how affected they were by just my presence alone," said Cruz, one of the Giants' top players.
"I got out and gave them the cleats and the gloves. The older brother (11-year-old Ben) was still very emotional. I gave the cleats to him and signed stuff for the kids and then went inside. ... It was an emotional time."
"We got to smile a little bit, which was good for them. It was a time where I just wanted to be a positive voice ... they are a really great family."
Cruz's effort to try and comfort the family impressed Giants head coach Tom Coughlin.
"That family will remember that all their days. Hopefully, at least some of their grief may temporarily be spent, in being able to embrace Victor Cruz," said Coughlin. "The fact that he went and did that speaks volumes about what he has inside.
Giants' Cruz calls Newtown visit a revelation
Label: SportsEAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (Reuters) - A visit with the grief-stricken family of a six-year-old victim from last week's Connecticut elementary school massacre has left New York Giants receiver Victor Cruz looking at life through a different lens.
The National Football League player said on Wednesday the 75-minute visit to the home of six-year-old Giants fan Jack Pinto, who was a buried in a replica Cruz jersey, has altered his view on life.
"When you visit a family going through so much, facing so much turmoil in their lives ... it just helps you look at life through a different lens," Cruz, who drove to Connecticut with his girlfriend and infant daughter on Tuesday, told reporters. "It really changes your view of the way you look at things."
Pinto was among 26 people, including 20 schoolchildren, who were killed by a gunman at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, last Friday.
When Cruz heard about the child's devotion to him, he reached out to the family and wrote "RIP Jack Pinto" on the cleats he wore in Sunday's game against the Atlanta Falcons.
He was met outside the Pinto residence by the child's family, neighborhood kids and the local youth football team.
"Once I got there, I saw the kids there with my jersey on and I saw the family outside. They were still pretty emotional, crying, so I saw how affected they were by just my presence alone," said Cruz, one of the Giants' top players.
"I got out and gave them the cleats and the gloves. The older brother (11-year-old Ben) was still very emotional. I gave the cleats to him and signed stuff for the kids and then went inside. ... It was an emotional time."
"We got to smile a little bit, which was good for them. It was a time where I just wanted to be a positive voice ... they are a really great family."
Cruz's effort to try and comfort the family impressed Giants head coach Tom Coughlin.
"That family will remember that all their days. Hopefully, at least some of their grief may temporarily be spent, in being able to embrace Victor Cruz," said Coughlin. "The fact that he went and did that speaks volumes about what he has inside."
Read More..
The National Football League player said on Wednesday the 75-minute visit to the home of six-year-old Giants fan Jack Pinto, who was a buried in a replica Cruz jersey, has altered his view on life.
"When you visit a family going through so much, facing so much turmoil in their lives ... it just helps you look at life through a different lens," Cruz, who drove to Connecticut with his girlfriend and infant daughter on Tuesday, told reporters. "It really changes your view of the way you look at things."
Pinto was among 26 people, including 20 schoolchildren, who were killed by a gunman at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, last Friday.
When Cruz heard about the child's devotion to him, he reached out to the family and wrote "RIP Jack Pinto" on the cleats he wore in Sunday's game against the Atlanta Falcons.
He was met outside the Pinto residence by the child's family, neighborhood kids and the local youth football team.
"Once I got there, I saw the kids there with my jersey on and I saw the family outside. They were still pretty emotional, crying, so I saw how affected they were by just my presence alone," said Cruz, one of the Giants' top players.
"I got out and gave them the cleats and the gloves. The older brother (11-year-old Ben) was still very emotional. I gave the cleats to him and signed stuff for the kids and then went inside. ... It was an emotional time."
"We got to smile a little bit, which was good for them. It was a time where I just wanted to be a positive voice ... they are a really great family."
Cruz's effort to try and comfort the family impressed Giants head coach Tom Coughlin.
"That family will remember that all their days. Hopefully, at least some of their grief may temporarily be spent, in being able to embrace Victor Cruz," said Coughlin. "The fact that he went and did that speaks volumes about what he has inside."
NFL-Giants, Ravens feel the urgency of Sunday's showdown
Label: SportsEAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey, Dec 19 (Reuters) - The New York Giants and Baltimore Ravens, both coming off one-sided losses, are looking forward to Sunday's playoff-calibre showdown with a sense of urgency running through both teams.
The Super Bowl champion Giants need to win their last two games, including a regular season finale against Philadelphia, to ensure a place in the playoffs, while the Ravens, on a three-game losing skid, can win the AFC North title with a victory.
"We have the two-game schedule and we have to win both games to get in the playoffs and everybody's aware of that," New York coach Tom Coughlin told reporters before Wednesday's practice.
The Giants (8-6) are tied for the NFC East lead with the Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys, but would come up on the losing end of tiebreakers with both teams.
Since Washington and Dallas meet in their final game, two wins would guarantee the Giants a wildcard berth.
The Ravens (9-5) were beaten 34-17 at home last week by Denver, but clinched a playoff berth nonetheless for a fifth successive season. Coach John Harbaugh said it is essential the team got get on track.
"We understand what's at stake," Harbaugh told reporters in a conference call to the Giants' practice facility. "The guys are excited to play. We have plenty to play for. We're trying to play for a division championship.
"You do want to build momentum and you want to be your best at the end of the year. You want to build toward that and peak at the right time, and that's what we're really hoping to do."
Coughlin said his team had been plagued by inconsistency and that quarterback Eli Manning was the man to lead them out of the trend after the team was shut out 34-0 last week by Atlanta.
"It's our whole football team," Coughlin said, not laying the blame on any particular phase of the game.
"Hopefully, because of the position that Eli is in, he's going to lead us out of the inconsistencies," Coughlin said about a team that scored 50 points in beating New Orleans two weeks ago before being blanked by the Falcons.
The Giants hope history can repeat itself.
Last season, the up-and-down New Yorkers put it all together at the end of the season, winning their last two games to reach the postseason and sweeping four playoff games culminating in a Super Bowl triumph over the New England Patriots.
"The reality of it is we haven't been able to play to substantiate what I would say is the personality of this team," Coughlin said about the 2012 edition of the club.
"So I'm definitely counting on the veterans to go ahead and prove this and do it with consistency. Last year we did it over a six-game run, and we're in that situation again."
Ravens running back Ray Rice said he expected a high intensity showdown game against the Giants.
"They have a lot at stake and we got a lot at stake," said Rice. "We're trying to clinch the AFC North and I think they are in a three-way tie. There's going to be a playoff atmosphere on Sunday.
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The Super Bowl champion Giants need to win their last two games, including a regular season finale against Philadelphia, to ensure a place in the playoffs, while the Ravens, on a three-game losing skid, can win the AFC North title with a victory.
"We have the two-game schedule and we have to win both games to get in the playoffs and everybody's aware of that," New York coach Tom Coughlin told reporters before Wednesday's practice.
The Giants (8-6) are tied for the NFC East lead with the Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys, but would come up on the losing end of tiebreakers with both teams.
Since Washington and Dallas meet in their final game, two wins would guarantee the Giants a wildcard berth.
The Ravens (9-5) were beaten 34-17 at home last week by Denver, but clinched a playoff berth nonetheless for a fifth successive season. Coach John Harbaugh said it is essential the team got get on track.
"We understand what's at stake," Harbaugh told reporters in a conference call to the Giants' practice facility. "The guys are excited to play. We have plenty to play for. We're trying to play for a division championship.
"You do want to build momentum and you want to be your best at the end of the year. You want to build toward that and peak at the right time, and that's what we're really hoping to do."
Coughlin said his team had been plagued by inconsistency and that quarterback Eli Manning was the man to lead them out of the trend after the team was shut out 34-0 last week by Atlanta.
"It's our whole football team," Coughlin said, not laying the blame on any particular phase of the game.
"Hopefully, because of the position that Eli is in, he's going to lead us out of the inconsistencies," Coughlin said about a team that scored 50 points in beating New Orleans two weeks ago before being blanked by the Falcons.
The Giants hope history can repeat itself.
Last season, the up-and-down New Yorkers put it all together at the end of the season, winning their last two games to reach the postseason and sweeping four playoff games culminating in a Super Bowl triumph over the New England Patriots.
"The reality of it is we haven't been able to play to substantiate what I would say is the personality of this team," Coughlin said about the 2012 edition of the club.
"So I'm definitely counting on the veterans to go ahead and prove this and do it with consistency. Last year we did it over a six-game run, and we're in that situation again."
Ravens running back Ray Rice said he expected a high intensity showdown game against the Giants.
"They have a lot at stake and we got a lot at stake," said Rice. "We're trying to clinch the AFC North and I think they are in a three-way tie. There's going to be a playoff atmosphere on Sunday.
Are We Regulating Ourselves Back Into Recession?
Label: BusinessLet us put an end to self-inflicted wounds," President Gerald Ford told Congress in 1975. "And let us remember that our national unity is a most priceless asset." While Ford was talking about the scars from the Vietnam War, his words seem relevant today. Our nation grapples with not one divisive issue, but a basket of them, each pulling and undermining our already battered confidence, while testing our resolve and straining the limits of logic.
What are we doing to ourselves, America?
In just two short weeks, instead of closing the books after a bruising election, we've not only kept the rancor alive but have doubled down on it. In this morning's papers alone, I easily counted a dozen different areas of discourse before growing tired of it all. As my colleague Mike Santoli and I discuss in the attached video, with so much going on — and with so much wrong — is it any wonder stocks are moving in reverse at a fast clip since the second quarter correction.
"It feels like a particularly heavy round of one of these anti-business — or at least calling business to task — moments," Santoli says in the face of my long and growing list of negatives, which include higher taxes, the fiscal cliff, the Benghazi aftermath, turnover at the CIA, federal probes of FedEx and UPS over mail-order medicine, BP's record fine, further investigation into banks for money laundering, as well as another round of mandatory stress testing.
Before you go off and call me some kind of zero-regulation advocate or pessimist, all I am saying is that it strikes me as slightly counterproductive to be building up and and tearing down the banks at the same time. And Santoli seems to agree, saying that it is alarming to see how much banks have to spend on compliance, legal and regulatory issues, calling it a "massive weight."
As much as we had recently been gaining some degree of comfort over the economy, housing and jobs, it suddenly seems as if we're doing everything wrong.
''Is it ever going to be a good time to cinch up tax rates?" Santoli questions. Obviously the answer is no, and yet the markets cling to the belief that our elected officials will break ranks and reach some sort of last-minute grand bargain solution.
Maybe I am just being cynical, but I am of the mind that no major changes will emerge without first going through a period of calamity. Santoli is a smidge more optimistic, however, clinging to a ''residual hope'' that the President has a ''Nixon-to-China moment" and that his second term is not about fighting individual, ideological fight. "That is the distant hope you have to hold," he says.
How about you? Have you given up hope in the face of so much negativity?
Read More..
What are we doing to ourselves, America?
In just two short weeks, instead of closing the books after a bruising election, we've not only kept the rancor alive but have doubled down on it. In this morning's papers alone, I easily counted a dozen different areas of discourse before growing tired of it all. As my colleague Mike Santoli and I discuss in the attached video, with so much going on — and with so much wrong — is it any wonder stocks are moving in reverse at a fast clip since the second quarter correction.
"It feels like a particularly heavy round of one of these anti-business — or at least calling business to task — moments," Santoli says in the face of my long and growing list of negatives, which include higher taxes, the fiscal cliff, the Benghazi aftermath, turnover at the CIA, federal probes of FedEx and UPS over mail-order medicine, BP's record fine, further investigation into banks for money laundering, as well as another round of mandatory stress testing.
Before you go off and call me some kind of zero-regulation advocate or pessimist, all I am saying is that it strikes me as slightly counterproductive to be building up and and tearing down the banks at the same time. And Santoli seems to agree, saying that it is alarming to see how much banks have to spend on compliance, legal and regulatory issues, calling it a "massive weight."
As much as we had recently been gaining some degree of comfort over the economy, housing and jobs, it suddenly seems as if we're doing everything wrong.
''Is it ever going to be a good time to cinch up tax rates?" Santoli questions. Obviously the answer is no, and yet the markets cling to the belief that our elected officials will break ranks and reach some sort of last-minute grand bargain solution.
Maybe I am just being cynical, but I am of the mind that no major changes will emerge without first going through a period of calamity. Santoli is a smidge more optimistic, however, clinging to a ''residual hope'' that the President has a ''Nixon-to-China moment" and that his second term is not about fighting individual, ideological fight. "That is the distant hope you have to hold," he says.
How about you? Have you given up hope in the face of so much negativity?
Judge asks Hostess to mediate with union
Label: BusinessWHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) -- Twinkies won't die that easily after all.
Hostess Brands Inc. and its second largest union will go into mediation to try and resolve their differences, meaning the company won't go out of business just yet. The news came Monday after Hostess moved to liquidate and sell off its assets in bankruptcy court citing a crippling strike last week.
The bankruptcy judge hearing the case said Monday that the parties haven't gone through the critical step of mediation and asked the lawyer for the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union, which has been on strike since Nov. 9, to ask his client, who wasn't present, if the union would agree to participate. The judge noted that the bakery union, which represents about 30 percent of Hostess workers, went on strike after rejecting the company's latest contract offer, even though it never filed an objection to it.
"Many people, myself included, have serious questions as to the logic behind this strike," said Judge Robert Drain, who heard the case in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York in White Plains, N.Y. "Not to have gone through that step leaves a huge question mark in this case."
Hostess and the union agreed to mediation talks, which are expected to begin the process on Tuesday.
In an interview after the hearing on Monday, CEO Gregory Rayburn said that the two parties will have to agree to contract terms within 24 hours of the Tuesday since it is costing $1 million a day in overhead costs to wind down operations. But even if a contract agreement is reached, it is not clear if all 33 Hostess plants will go back to being operational.
"We didn't think we had a runway, but the judge just created a 24-hour runway," for the two parties to come to an agreement, Rayburn said.
Hostess, weighed down by debt, management turmoil, rising labor costs and the changing tastes of America, decided on Friday that it no longer could make it through a conventional Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring. Instead, the company, which is based in Irving, Texas, asked the court for permission to sell assets and go out of business.
It's not the sequence of events that the maker of Twinkies, Ding Dongs and Ho Ho's envisioned when it filed for bankruptcy in January, its second Chapter 11 filing in less than a decade. The company, who said that it was saddled with costs related to its unionized workforce, had hoped to emerge with stronger financials. It brought on Rayburn as a restructuring expert and was working to renegotiate its contract with labor unions.
But Rayburn wasn't able to reach a deal with the bakery union. The company, which had been contributing $100 million a year in pension costs for workers, offered workers a new contract that would've slashed that to $25 million a year, in addition to wage cuts and a 17 percent reduction in health benefits. But the bakery union decided to strike.
By that time, the company had reached a contract agreement with its largest union, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which urged the bakery union to hold a secret ballot on whether to continue striking. Although many bakery workers decided to cross picket lines this week, Hostess said it wasn't enough to keep operations at normal levels.
Rayburn said that Hostess was already operating on razor thin margins and that the strike was the final blow. The company's announcement on Friday that it would move to liquidate prompted people across the country to rush to stores and stock up on their favorite Hostess treats. Many businesses reported selling out of Twinkies within hours and the spongy yellow cakes turned up for sale online for hundreds of dollars.
Even if Hostess goes out of business, its popular brands will likely find a second life after being snapped up by buyers. The company says several potential buyers have expressed interest in the brands. Although Hostess' sales have been declining in recent years, the company still does about $2.5 billion in business each year. Twinkies along brought in $68 million so far this year.
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Hostess Brands Inc. and its second largest union will go into mediation to try and resolve their differences, meaning the company won't go out of business just yet. The news came Monday after Hostess moved to liquidate and sell off its assets in bankruptcy court citing a crippling strike last week.
The bankruptcy judge hearing the case said Monday that the parties haven't gone through the critical step of mediation and asked the lawyer for the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union, which has been on strike since Nov. 9, to ask his client, who wasn't present, if the union would agree to participate. The judge noted that the bakery union, which represents about 30 percent of Hostess workers, went on strike after rejecting the company's latest contract offer, even though it never filed an objection to it.
"Many people, myself included, have serious questions as to the logic behind this strike," said Judge Robert Drain, who heard the case in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York in White Plains, N.Y. "Not to have gone through that step leaves a huge question mark in this case."
Hostess and the union agreed to mediation talks, which are expected to begin the process on Tuesday.
In an interview after the hearing on Monday, CEO Gregory Rayburn said that the two parties will have to agree to contract terms within 24 hours of the Tuesday since it is costing $1 million a day in overhead costs to wind down operations. But even if a contract agreement is reached, it is not clear if all 33 Hostess plants will go back to being operational.
"We didn't think we had a runway, but the judge just created a 24-hour runway," for the two parties to come to an agreement, Rayburn said.
Hostess, weighed down by debt, management turmoil, rising labor costs and the changing tastes of America, decided on Friday that it no longer could make it through a conventional Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring. Instead, the company, which is based in Irving, Texas, asked the court for permission to sell assets and go out of business.
It's not the sequence of events that the maker of Twinkies, Ding Dongs and Ho Ho's envisioned when it filed for bankruptcy in January, its second Chapter 11 filing in less than a decade. The company, who said that it was saddled with costs related to its unionized workforce, had hoped to emerge with stronger financials. It brought on Rayburn as a restructuring expert and was working to renegotiate its contract with labor unions.
But Rayburn wasn't able to reach a deal with the bakery union. The company, which had been contributing $100 million a year in pension costs for workers, offered workers a new contract that would've slashed that to $25 million a year, in addition to wage cuts and a 17 percent reduction in health benefits. But the bakery union decided to strike.
By that time, the company had reached a contract agreement with its largest union, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which urged the bakery union to hold a secret ballot on whether to continue striking. Although many bakery workers decided to cross picket lines this week, Hostess said it wasn't enough to keep operations at normal levels.
Rayburn said that Hostess was already operating on razor thin margins and that the strike was the final blow. The company's announcement on Friday that it would move to liquidate prompted people across the country to rush to stores and stock up on their favorite Hostess treats. Many businesses reported selling out of Twinkies within hours and the spongy yellow cakes turned up for sale online for hundreds of dollars.
Even if Hostess goes out of business, its popular brands will likely find a second life after being snapped up by buyers. The company says several potential buyers have expressed interest in the brands. Although Hostess' sales have been declining in recent years, the company still does about $2.5 billion in business each year. Twinkies along brought in $68 million so far this year.
Just Explain It: What is the Strategic Petroleum Reserve?
Label: BusinessEliminating America's dependency on foreign oil has been a policy goal for at least the last two U.S. Presidents. According to the International Energy Agency, by 2020, the U.S. will overtake Saudi Arabia as the world's number one oil producer.
However, there's still some work to do. The United States Energy Information Administration reported that 45% of the petroleum consumed by the U.S. in 2011 was from foreign countries. Even though the country is well on its way to becoming self reliant, there's always a chance we could hit a major bump in the road. The good thing is we have protection. It's called the Strategic Petroleum Reserve or S.P.R.
So here's how the S.P.R. works:
The reserve was created after the 1973 energy crisis when an Arab oil embargo halted exports to the United States. As a result, fuel shortages caused disruptions in the U.S. economy.
The reserves are located underground in four man-made salt domes in Texas and Louisiana. All four locations combined hold a total of 727 million barrels of oil. The inventory is currently at 695 million barrels. That's around 80 days of import protection. It's the largest emergency oil supply in the world -- it's worth about $63 billion.
Only the President has the ability to tap the reserves in case of severe energy supply interruption. It's happened three times. Twice within the last decade. In 2005, President Bush ordered the emergency sale of 11 million barrels when Hurricane Katrina shutdown 25 percent of domestic production. In 2011, President Obama ordered the release of 30 million barrels to help offset disruptions caused by political upheaval in the Middle East.
Following the release order, the reserve issues a notice of sale to solicit competitive offers. In the most recent sale involving the Obama administration, the offers resulted in contracts with 15 companies for delivery of 30.6 million barrels of oil. To put that in context, last year the U.S. consumed almost seven billion barrels of oil — that's 19 million per day -- or about 22% of the world's consumption.
Related Link: Using the Strategic Petroleum Reserve Like a Spigot
The release in 2011 had little effect on the price of gas at the pump. Consumers paid about 2% less for a week before the prices began to climb again.
Related link: Just Explain It: Why Social Security is Running Out of Money
Did you learn something? Do you have a topic you'd like explained? Give us your feedback in the comments below or on Twitter using #justexplainit.
Read More..
However, there's still some work to do. The United States Energy Information Administration reported that 45% of the petroleum consumed by the U.S. in 2011 was from foreign countries. Even though the country is well on its way to becoming self reliant, there's always a chance we could hit a major bump in the road. The good thing is we have protection. It's called the Strategic Petroleum Reserve or S.P.R.
So here's how the S.P.R. works:
The reserve was created after the 1973 energy crisis when an Arab oil embargo halted exports to the United States. As a result, fuel shortages caused disruptions in the U.S. economy.
The reserves are located underground in four man-made salt domes in Texas and Louisiana. All four locations combined hold a total of 727 million barrels of oil. The inventory is currently at 695 million barrels. That's around 80 days of import protection. It's the largest emergency oil supply in the world -- it's worth about $63 billion.
Only the President has the ability to tap the reserves in case of severe energy supply interruption. It's happened three times. Twice within the last decade. In 2005, President Bush ordered the emergency sale of 11 million barrels when Hurricane Katrina shutdown 25 percent of domestic production. In 2011, President Obama ordered the release of 30 million barrels to help offset disruptions caused by political upheaval in the Middle East.
Following the release order, the reserve issues a notice of sale to solicit competitive offers. In the most recent sale involving the Obama administration, the offers resulted in contracts with 15 companies for delivery of 30.6 million barrels of oil. To put that in context, last year the U.S. consumed almost seven billion barrels of oil — that's 19 million per day -- or about 22% of the world's consumption.
Related Link: Using the Strategic Petroleum Reserve Like a Spigot
The release in 2011 had little effect on the price of gas at the pump. Consumers paid about 2% less for a week before the prices began to climb again.
Related link: Just Explain It: Why Social Security is Running Out of Money
Did you learn something? Do you have a topic you'd like explained? Give us your feedback in the comments below or on Twitter using #justexplainit.
Apple to produce line of Macs in the US next year
Label: BusinessNEW YORK (AP) -- Apple CEO Tim Cook says the company will move production of one of its existing lines of Mac computers from China to the United States next year.
Industry watchers said the announcement is both a cunning public-relations move and a harbinger of more manufacturing jobs moving back to the U.S. as wages rise in China.
Cook made the comments in part of an interview taped for NBC's "Rock Center," but aired Thursday morning on "Today" and posted on the network's website.
In a separate interview with Bloomberg Businessweek, he said that the company will spend $100 million in 2013 to move production of the line to the U.S. from China.
"This doesn't mean that Apple will do it ourselves, but we'll be working with people and we'll be investing our money," Cook told Bloomberg.
That suggests the company could be helping one of its Taiwanese manufacturing partners, which run factories in China, to set up production lines in the U.S. devoted to Apple products. Research firm IHS iSuppli noted that both Foxconn Technology Group, which assembles iPhones, and Quanta Computer Inc., which does the same for MacBooks, already have small operations in the U.S.
Apple representatives had no comment Thursday beyond Cook's remarks.
Like most consumer electronics companies, Apple forges agreements with contract manufacturers to assemble its products overseas. However, the assembly accounts for a fraction of the cost of making a PC or smartphone. Most of the cost lies in buying chips, and many of those are made in the U.S., Cook noted in his interview with NBC.
The company and Foxconn have faced significant criticism this year over working conditions at the Chinese facilities where Apple products are assembled. The attention prompted Foxconn to raise salaries.
Cook didn't say which line of computers would be produced in the U.S. or where in the country they would be made. But he told Bloomberg that the production would include more than just final assembly. That suggests that machining of cases and printing of circuit boards could take place in the U.S.
The simplest Macs to assemble are the Mac Pro and Mac Mini desktop computers. Since they lack the built-in screens of the MacBooks and iMacs, they would likely be easier to separate from the Asian display supply chain.
Analyst Jeffrey Wu at IHS iSuppli said it's not uncommon for PC makers to build their bulkier products close to their customers to cut down on delivery times and shipping costs.
Regardless, the U.S. manufacturing line is expected to represent just a tiny piece of Apple's overall production, with sales of iPhones and iPads now dwarfing those of its computers.
Apple is latching on to a trend that could see many jobs move back to the U.S., said Hal Sirkin, a partner with The Boston Consulting Group. He noted that Lenovo Group, the Chinese company that's neck-and-neck with Hewlett-Packard Co. for the title of world's largest PC maker, announced in October that it will start making PCs and tablets in the U.S.
Chinese wages are raising 15 to 20 percent per year, Sirkin said. U.S. wages are rising much more slowly, and the country is a cheap place to hire compared to other developed countries like Germany, France and Japan, he said.
"Across a lot of industries, companies are rethinking their strategy of where the manufacturing takes place," Sirkin said.
Carl Howe, an analyst with Yankee Group, likened Apple's move to Henry Ford's famous 1914 decision to double his workers' pay, helping to build a middle class that could afford to buy cars. But Cook's goal is probably more limited: to buy goodwill from U.S. consumers, Howe said.
"Say it's State of the Union 2014. President Obama wants to talk about manufacturing. Who is he going to point to in the audience? Tim Cook, the guy who brought manufacturing back from China. And that scene is going replay over and over," Howe said. "And yeah, it may be only (public relations), but it's a lot of high-value PR."
Cook said in his interview with NBC that companies like Apple chose to produce their products in places like China, not because of the lower costs associated with it, but because the manufacturing skills required just aren't present in the U.S. anymore.
He added that the consumer electronics world has never really had a big production presence in the U.S. As a result, it's really more about starting production in the U.S. than bringing it back, he said.
But for nearly three decades Apple made its computers in the U.S. It started outsourcing production in the mid-90s, first by selling some plants to contract manufacturers, then by hiring manufacturers overseas. It assembled iMacs in Elk Grove, Calif., until 2004.
Some Macs already say they're "Assembled in USA." That's because Apple has for years performed final assembly of some units in the U.S. Those machines are usually the product of special orders placed at its online store. The last step of production may consist of mounting hard drives, memory chips and graphics cards into computer cases that are manufactured elsewhere. With Cook's announcement Thursday, the company is set to go much further in the amount of work done in the U.S.
The news comes a day after Apple posted its worst stock drop in four years, erasing $35 billion in market capitalization. Apple's stock rose $8.45, or 1.6 percent, to close at $547.24 Thursday.
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Industry watchers said the announcement is both a cunning public-relations move and a harbinger of more manufacturing jobs moving back to the U.S. as wages rise in China.
Cook made the comments in part of an interview taped for NBC's "Rock Center," but aired Thursday morning on "Today" and posted on the network's website.
In a separate interview with Bloomberg Businessweek, he said that the company will spend $100 million in 2013 to move production of the line to the U.S. from China.
"This doesn't mean that Apple will do it ourselves, but we'll be working with people and we'll be investing our money," Cook told Bloomberg.
That suggests the company could be helping one of its Taiwanese manufacturing partners, which run factories in China, to set up production lines in the U.S. devoted to Apple products. Research firm IHS iSuppli noted that both Foxconn Technology Group, which assembles iPhones, and Quanta Computer Inc., which does the same for MacBooks, already have small operations in the U.S.
Apple representatives had no comment Thursday beyond Cook's remarks.
Like most consumer electronics companies, Apple forges agreements with contract manufacturers to assemble its products overseas. However, the assembly accounts for a fraction of the cost of making a PC or smartphone. Most of the cost lies in buying chips, and many of those are made in the U.S., Cook noted in his interview with NBC.
The company and Foxconn have faced significant criticism this year over working conditions at the Chinese facilities where Apple products are assembled. The attention prompted Foxconn to raise salaries.
Cook didn't say which line of computers would be produced in the U.S. or where in the country they would be made. But he told Bloomberg that the production would include more than just final assembly. That suggests that machining of cases and printing of circuit boards could take place in the U.S.
The simplest Macs to assemble are the Mac Pro and Mac Mini desktop computers. Since they lack the built-in screens of the MacBooks and iMacs, they would likely be easier to separate from the Asian display supply chain.
Analyst Jeffrey Wu at IHS iSuppli said it's not uncommon for PC makers to build their bulkier products close to their customers to cut down on delivery times and shipping costs.
Regardless, the U.S. manufacturing line is expected to represent just a tiny piece of Apple's overall production, with sales of iPhones and iPads now dwarfing those of its computers.
Apple is latching on to a trend that could see many jobs move back to the U.S., said Hal Sirkin, a partner with The Boston Consulting Group. He noted that Lenovo Group, the Chinese company that's neck-and-neck with Hewlett-Packard Co. for the title of world's largest PC maker, announced in October that it will start making PCs and tablets in the U.S.
Chinese wages are raising 15 to 20 percent per year, Sirkin said. U.S. wages are rising much more slowly, and the country is a cheap place to hire compared to other developed countries like Germany, France and Japan, he said.
"Across a lot of industries, companies are rethinking their strategy of where the manufacturing takes place," Sirkin said.
Carl Howe, an analyst with Yankee Group, likened Apple's move to Henry Ford's famous 1914 decision to double his workers' pay, helping to build a middle class that could afford to buy cars. But Cook's goal is probably more limited: to buy goodwill from U.S. consumers, Howe said.
"Say it's State of the Union 2014. President Obama wants to talk about manufacturing. Who is he going to point to in the audience? Tim Cook, the guy who brought manufacturing back from China. And that scene is going replay over and over," Howe said. "And yeah, it may be only (public relations), but it's a lot of high-value PR."
Cook said in his interview with NBC that companies like Apple chose to produce their products in places like China, not because of the lower costs associated with it, but because the manufacturing skills required just aren't present in the U.S. anymore.
He added that the consumer electronics world has never really had a big production presence in the U.S. As a result, it's really more about starting production in the U.S. than bringing it back, he said.
But for nearly three decades Apple made its computers in the U.S. It started outsourcing production in the mid-90s, first by selling some plants to contract manufacturers, then by hiring manufacturers overseas. It assembled iMacs in Elk Grove, Calif., until 2004.
Some Macs already say they're "Assembled in USA." That's because Apple has for years performed final assembly of some units in the U.S. Those machines are usually the product of special orders placed at its online store. The last step of production may consist of mounting hard drives, memory chips and graphics cards into computer cases that are manufactured elsewhere. With Cook's announcement Thursday, the company is set to go much further in the amount of work done in the U.S.
The news comes a day after Apple posted its worst stock drop in four years, erasing $35 billion in market capitalization. Apple's stock rose $8.45, or 1.6 percent, to close at $547.24 Thursday.
US economy adds 146K jobs, rate falls to 7.7 pct.
Label: BusinessWASHINGTON (AP) -- The pace of U.S. hiring remained steady in November despite disruptions from Superstorm Sandy and employers' concerns about impending tax increases from the year-end "fiscal cliff."
Companies added 146,000 jobs, and the unemployment rate fell to 7.7 percent — the lowest in nearly four years — from 7.9 percent in October. The rate declined mainly because more people stopped looking for work and weren't counted as unemployed.
The government said Superstorm Sandy had only a minimal effect on the figures.
The Labor Department's report Friday was a mixed one. But on balance, it suggested that the job market is gradually improving.
November's job gains were roughly the same as the average monthly increase this year of about 150,000. Most economists are encouraged by the job growth because it's occurred even as companies have reduced investment in heavy machinery and other equipment.
"The good news is not that the labor market is improving rapidly — it isn't — but that employment growth is holding up despite all the fears over the fiscal cliff," said Nigel Gault, an economist at IHS Global Insight.
Still, Friday's report included some discouraging signs. Employers added 49,000 fewer jobs in October and September combined than the government had initially estimated.
And economists noted that the unemployment rate would have risen if the number of people working or looking for work hadn't dropped by 350,000.
The government asks about 60,000 households each month whether the adults have jobs and whether those who don't are looking for one. Those without a job who are looking for one are counted as unemployed. Those who aren't looking aren't counted as unemployed.
A separate monthly survey seeks information from 140,000 companies and government agencies that together employ about one in three nonfarm workers in the United States.
Many analysts thought Sandy would hold back job growth significantly in November because the storm forced restaurants, retailers and other businesses to close in late October and early November.
It didn't. The government noted that as long as employees worked at least one day during a pay period — two weeks for most people — its survey would have counted them as employed.
Yet there were signs that the storm disrupted economic activity in November. Construction employment dropped 20,000. And weather prevented 369,000 people from getting to work — the most for any month in nearly two years. These workers were still counted as employed.
All told, 12 million people were unemployed in November, about 230,000 fewer than the previous month. That's still many more than the 7.6 million who were out of work when the recession officially began in December 2007.
Investors appeared pleased with the report, though the market gave up some early gains. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 53 points in mid-day trading.
The number of Americans who were working part time in November but wanted full-time work declined. And a measure of discouraged workers — those who wanted a job but hadn't searched for one in the past month — rose slightly.
Those two groups, plus the 12 million unemployed, make up a broader measure that the government calls "underemployment." The underemployment rate fell to 14.4 percent in November from 14.6 percent in October. It's the lowest such rate since January 2009.
Since July, the economy has added an average of 158,000 jobs a month. That's a modest pickup from an average of 146,000 in the first six months of the year.
In November, retailers added 53,000 positions. Temporary-help companies added 18,000. Education and health care also gained 18,000.
Auto manufacturers added nearly 10,000 jobs. Still, overall manufacturing jobs fell 7,000. That was pushed down by a loss of 12,000 jobs in food manufacturing that likely reflects the layoff of workers at Hostess.
Paul Ashworth, an economist at Capital Economics, noted that hiring by private companies was actually better in October than the government first thought. The overall job figures were revised down for October because governments themselves cut about 38,000 more jobs than was first estimated.
The U.S. economy grew at a solid 2.7 percent annual rate in the July-September quarter. But many economists say growth is slowing to a 1.5 percent rate in the October-December quarter, largely because of the storm and threat of the fiscal cliff.
The storm held back consumer spending and income, which drive economic growth. Consumer spending declined in October, the government said. And work interruptions caused by Sandy reduced wages and salaries that month by about $18 billion at an annual rate.
Still, many say economic growth could accelerate next year if the fiscal cliff is avoided. The economy is also expected to get a boost from efforts to rebuild in the Northeast after the storm.
Read More..
Companies added 146,000 jobs, and the unemployment rate fell to 7.7 percent — the lowest in nearly four years — from 7.9 percent in October. The rate declined mainly because more people stopped looking for work and weren't counted as unemployed.
The government said Superstorm Sandy had only a minimal effect on the figures.
The Labor Department's report Friday was a mixed one. But on balance, it suggested that the job market is gradually improving.
November's job gains were roughly the same as the average monthly increase this year of about 150,000. Most economists are encouraged by the job growth because it's occurred even as companies have reduced investment in heavy machinery and other equipment.
"The good news is not that the labor market is improving rapidly — it isn't — but that employment growth is holding up despite all the fears over the fiscal cliff," said Nigel Gault, an economist at IHS Global Insight.
Still, Friday's report included some discouraging signs. Employers added 49,000 fewer jobs in October and September combined than the government had initially estimated.
And economists noted that the unemployment rate would have risen if the number of people working or looking for work hadn't dropped by 350,000.
The government asks about 60,000 households each month whether the adults have jobs and whether those who don't are looking for one. Those without a job who are looking for one are counted as unemployed. Those who aren't looking aren't counted as unemployed.
A separate monthly survey seeks information from 140,000 companies and government agencies that together employ about one in three nonfarm workers in the United States.
Many analysts thought Sandy would hold back job growth significantly in November because the storm forced restaurants, retailers and other businesses to close in late October and early November.
It didn't. The government noted that as long as employees worked at least one day during a pay period — two weeks for most people — its survey would have counted them as employed.
Yet there were signs that the storm disrupted economic activity in November. Construction employment dropped 20,000. And weather prevented 369,000 people from getting to work — the most for any month in nearly two years. These workers were still counted as employed.
All told, 12 million people were unemployed in November, about 230,000 fewer than the previous month. That's still many more than the 7.6 million who were out of work when the recession officially began in December 2007.
Investors appeared pleased with the report, though the market gave up some early gains. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 53 points in mid-day trading.
The number of Americans who were working part time in November but wanted full-time work declined. And a measure of discouraged workers — those who wanted a job but hadn't searched for one in the past month — rose slightly.
Those two groups, plus the 12 million unemployed, make up a broader measure that the government calls "underemployment." The underemployment rate fell to 14.4 percent in November from 14.6 percent in October. It's the lowest such rate since January 2009.
Since July, the economy has added an average of 158,000 jobs a month. That's a modest pickup from an average of 146,000 in the first six months of the year.
In November, retailers added 53,000 positions. Temporary-help companies added 18,000. Education and health care also gained 18,000.
Auto manufacturers added nearly 10,000 jobs. Still, overall manufacturing jobs fell 7,000. That was pushed down by a loss of 12,000 jobs in food manufacturing that likely reflects the layoff of workers at Hostess.
Paul Ashworth, an economist at Capital Economics, noted that hiring by private companies was actually better in October than the government first thought. The overall job figures were revised down for October because governments themselves cut about 38,000 more jobs than was first estimated.
The U.S. economy grew at a solid 2.7 percent annual rate in the July-September quarter. But many economists say growth is slowing to a 1.5 percent rate in the October-December quarter, largely because of the storm and threat of the fiscal cliff.
The storm held back consumer spending and income, which drive economic growth. Consumer spending declined in October, the government said. And work interruptions caused by Sandy reduced wages and salaries that month by about $18 billion at an annual rate.
Still, many say economic growth could accelerate next year if the fiscal cliff is avoided. The economy is also expected to get a boost from efforts to rebuild in the Northeast after the storm.
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