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WALL STREET
Stock market on losing streak
NEW YORK (AP) — The stock market is on its longest losing streak since January.
After biotechnology and internet stocks pulled the market lower on Friday, companies that sell goods and services that are not essential for shoppers led declines on Monday.
Stocks have been volatile this year after surging in 2013. Investors now appear to question whether their lofty prices will be justified by what's expected to be slower growth in first-quarter earnings.
The S&P 500 index fell 20 points, or 1.1 percent, to 1,845. It was the S&P's third straight losing session.
The Dow dropped about 167 points, or 1 percent, to 16,245.87.
The Nasdaq composite dropped 48 points, or 1.2 percent, to close at 4,079.75.
For the year, the Dow is down 2 percent, while the Nasdaq composite is down 2.3 percent. However, the S&P 500 index is just 0.2 percent below where it started the year.
WORLD MARKETS
Asian stocks mixed after tech tumble; Japan falls
BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets were mixed today after Japan's central bank refrained from expanding its stimulus and declines in tech stocks weighed on prices.
U.S. markets tumbled on concern technology and consumer-oriented stocks were overvalued.
Investors are looking ahead to the release of minutes today from the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy setting committee.
The dollar was flat against the euro and slipped against the yen.
Benchmark crude oil rose but remained under $101 a barrel.
ECONOMY-THE DAY AHEAD
Alcoa set to kick off corporate earnings season
WASHINGTON (AP) — The corporate earnings season gets underway after the market closes today.
Alcoa leads off with its most recent quarterly financial results. The aluminum maker lost $2.3 billion in the fourth quarter of last year, but that was mostly because it wrote down the value of aluminum-smelting operations.
As for government data, the Labor Department releases its job openings and labor turnover survey for February this morning.
MICROSOFT-THE END OF XP
Analysts: End of XP could cause operational and security problems for industry, consumers
NEW YORK (AP) — Microsoft support for Windows XP ends today.
The popular operating system has been around for 12 years, and an estimated 30 percent of businesses and consumers are still using it. While they will be able to continue to run XP after today, Microsoft says it will no longer provide new security updates, issue fixes to non-security related problems or offer online technical content updates. Microsoft says it will provide anti-malware-related updates through July 14, 2015, but warns that the tweaks could be of limited help on an outdated operating system.
Security experts say that could put everything from the operations of heavy industry to the identities of everyday people in danger. Patrick Thomas at the firm Neohapsis says hackers have "a big neon bull's eye" on the issue.
Thomas says XP has been a reliable workhorse and a wide variety of people and businesses stuck with it instead of upgrading to other Windows systems. In addition to home computers, XP is used to run everything from water treatment facilities and power plants to small businesses like doctor's offices.
CITIGROUP-MORTGAGE SECURITIES SETTLEMENT
Citigroup to pay $1.13B to settle investor claims
NEW YORK (AP) — Citigroup says it has agreed to pay $1.13 billion to settle claims by investors wanting the lender to buy back billions in residential mortgage-backed securities.
The New York-based investment bank says the pact it reached with 18 institutional investors calls for Citigroup to make a binding offer to the trustees of 68 Citi-sponsored trusts that bundled some $59.4 billion in home loans into securities from 2005 to 2008.
The settlement offer, which must be approved by the trustees and the court, would release Citi from having to buy back mortgages sold to the trusts.
But the lender would remain vulnerable to other types of investor claims.
As part of the settlement, Citigroup says it has taken a charge of about $100 million for the first quarter.
MIDSIZE SUVS-CRASH TESTS
Only 2 midsize SUVs get top rating in crash tests
DETROIT (AP) — Only two of nine midsize SUVs got the highest rating in crash tests done by an insurance industry group.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says General Motors' Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain received its highest, or "good," rating. The Toyota Highlander got the second-best "acceptable" rating in tests of 2014 models.
The institute says the Jeep Grand Cherokee, Toyota 4Runner and Ford Explorer got "marginal" ratings, while the Kia Sorento, Mazda CX-9 and Honda Pilot all were rated "poor."
The SUVs generally performed well on six crash tests done by the institute, but only the Equinox and Terrain got "good" ratings in a front overlap crash. That test mimics what happens when a car's front corner collides with another vehicle or an object like a utility pole.
JAPAN-ECONOMY
BOJ refrains from further easing monetary policy
TOKYO (AP) — Japan's central bank has refrained from expanding its ultra-loose monetary policy despite a sales tax hike, saying the economy is recovering moderately.
The Bank of Japan's policy statement was the first since an April 1 increase in the sales tax, to 8 percent from 5 percent, that is expected to stall growth in coming months as consumers adjust to higher costs.
The BOJ said inflation is likely to remain at about 1.25 percent for some time, below its target of 2 percent.
It said business sentiment is improving and private spending resilient, a year after BOJ Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda announced unprecedentedly huge asset purchases to spur inflation and help Japan's economy recover from two decades of doldrums.
Kuroda has said the policies will remain for as long as needed.
SKOREA-EARNS-SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS
Samsung's 1Q profit falls 4 percent
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Samsung Electronics Co. says its January-March operating income has declined 4 percent over a year earlier.
The Asian tech heavyweight said in its Tuesday earnings preview that its operating income for the first three months of this year reached 8.4 trillion won ($8 billion), compared with 8.8 trillion won a year earlier. Sales remained flat at 53 trillion won.
The operating profit was in line with the median estimate by analysts surveyed by FactSet.
The profit decline shows the challenge for Samsung to continue its earnings growth in the face of falling prices of smartphones, its biggest cash cow that brings over two-third of its income.
Samsung, the world's largest maker of smartphones, televisions and memory chips, will announce its full financial results including net income later this month.
VOLCKER RULE-SECURITIES EXTENSION
Fed gives banks 2 more years on risky securities
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve is giving U.S. banks that have certain complex securities two more years to ensure their holdings don't put them afoul of the new Volcker Rule.
The Fed's move doesn't give banks an outright exemption for the securities from the Volcker Rule's ban on high-risk investments. Wall Street banks had sought an exemption. The leading Wall Street lobbying group is expressing disappointment.
The Volcker Rule, adopted in December, is intended to limit banks' riskiest trading bets that could implode at taxpayers' expense. That kind of risk-taking on Wall Street helped trigger the 2008 financial crisis. Congress mandated the Volcker Rule in its financial overhaul law.
The Fed gave banks until mid-2017 to "conform" their holdings of the collateralized loan obligations, which are mainly backed by commercial loans.
MEDICARE ADVANTAGE-FINAL RATES
Government hikes Medicare Advantage pay estimate
The government is raising its payment estimate for Medicare Advantage plans, months ahead of a busy election season during which cuts to the program promise to be a key focus for politicians and voters.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services says 2015 payments to the plans should rise slightly. That compares to a drop of nearly 2 percent that the government forecast in February.
Analysts expect actual funding to fall, when many other variables are considered. But the drop shouldn't be as steep as initially forecast.
This may lead to fewer changes for the programs. The government has squeezed rates for the past few years in part to help fund the health care overhaul. Insurers say they've had to trim benefits and drop doctors due to the cuts.
STATES PAINKILLERS
Zohydro maker sues to block Massachusetts ban
BOSTON (AP) — The maker of Zohydro, a controversial new prescription painkiller, has filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking to block Massachusetts' ban on local doctors prescribing and dispensing the drug.
Zogenix has filed suit in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, requesting that the court temporarily stop Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick's executive order.
The San Diego-based company says in its lawsuit that Governor Patrick's order is at odds with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which approved use of Zohydro for severe pain in October.
In March, Governor Patrick declared a public health emergency in response to the state's growing epidemic of heroin and opioid addiction. He pushed the ban on Zohydro as officials feared the painkiller could exacerbate the problem.
US STEEL-ICY SHUTDOWN
US Steel plant operating at reduced capacity
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — U.S. Steel says its largest mill is on limited production because of a shortage of iron ore due to the ice covering Lake Superior.
Company spokeswoman Courtney Boone says ships were able to bring ore to the sprawling Gary Works on Sunday despite lingering ice from the frigid winter. She hasn't specified the level of production or estimated the shutdown's cost, but says U.S Steel hopes to get more ore to the mill this week.
The Gary Works mill generates steel for industries such as construction and auto manufacturing. U.S. Steel says only one of the mill's three furnaces has been operating.
A spokesman for the Great Lakes shipping industry says iron ore stockpiles are running low in many places and coal shipments in March were down 70 percent from a year ago.
AIRLINES-LIMES
Some airlines drop limes from beverage service
NEW YORK (AP) — Airline passengers might notice something missing these days from their vodka tonics or their Diet Cokes.
There's no lime.
A recent spike in the price of limes has caused some airlines, for now, to stop offering the fruit in their beverage service.
Alaska Airlines says it made the move about two weeks ago. It says it normally goes through about 900 limes a day.
In one lime-growing Mexican state, growers reduced their supply because of unrest caused by drug cartels, and because of flooding from heavy rains. Combined with a drought in California -- and with a growing demand for limes for margaritas and tacos -- it's driven up the price of limes to a three-year high. The Agriculture Department says the average advertised price of a lime in U.S. supermarkets was 56 cents last week. That's up from 37 cents a couple of weeks ago.
United Airlines says it's substituting lemons on some flights. But one frequent flier who writes a travel blog says that won't cut it. Ben Schlappig says there are some cocktails in which a lemon just isn't a substitute.
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