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WALL STREET
Stocks move higher after rough week; Investors encouraged by retail sales pickup, Citi earnings
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are higher in afternoon trading after the government reported that retail sales notched their biggest increase since 2012 in March.
Also helping boost the mood is a better than expected quarterly financial report from Citigroup. It's helped ease worries that corporate earnings would be weak, following an earnings miss last week by JPMorgan Chase. Citi's stock is up 4 percent.
The S&P 500 was up nearly 15 points, after losing lost 2.7 percent last week. The Dow has gained 135, while the Nasdaq composite has added more than 30 points.
RETAIL SALES
US retail sales up strong 1.1 percent in March
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. retail sales in March rose by the largest amount in 18 months, led by strong gains in sales of autos, furniture and a number of other products.
The Commerce Department said Monday that retail sales rose 1.1 percent in March, the best showing since September 2012. The government also revised February to a 0.7 percent gain, more than double its previous estimate. Sales had fallen in January and December.
Sales of autos climbed 3.1 percent while sales at general merchandise stores, a category that covers retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target and department stores, increased 1.9 percent, the strongest one-month gain since March 2007, before the country went through the recession.
The strong March gain was evidence that the economy is emerging from a harsh winter with some momentum.
BUSINESS INVENTORIES
US businesses increased stockpiles 0.4 percent
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. businesses boosted their stockpiles in February as sales rebounded by the largest amount in nine months.
The Commerce Department says stockpiles increased 0.4 percent in February following a similar 0.4 percent increase in January. Sales rose 0.8 percent in February, bouncing back after a 1.1 percent sales decline in January that was blamed on the harsh weather that month. It was the biggest one-month sales gain since last May.
A separate report showed a surge in sales at the retail level in March, providing support to the view that stronger consumer spending in coming months will encourage businesses to restock their shelves and provide a boost to the economy.
While the economy slowed in the January-March quarter, many economists are looking for a strong rebound in the current quarter.
DATA BREACHES-STUDY
Study shows increase in online information thefts
NEW YORK (AP) — The number of Americans who have had important personal information stolen online is on the rise.
That's according to a new Pew Research Center report released Monday.
The January survey shows that 18 percent of online adults had personal information stolen such as their social security number, credit card or bank account information. That's up from 11 percent in a July 2013 survey.
The number of adults that had an online account compromised — such as email or social media — remained flat at 21 percent.
The survey was done after news broke of Target Corp.'s massive pre-Christmas data breach that resulted in the theft of 40 million debit and credit card numbers, along with the personal information of up to 70 million people.
HEALTH CARE-COSTS
Report projects health care costs to dip slightly
WASHINGTON (AP) — A new government report says the Affordable Care Act's health insurance subsidies will cost a little less than previously thought.
The Congressional Budget Office predicts that health insurance subsidies under so-called "Obamacare" will total a little more than $1 trillion over the next 10 years, instead of almost $1.2 trillion.
CBO said the 8 percent cut results largely from tighter cost controls by insurance companies offering plans on health care exchanges. Generally speaking, the plans offered on the exchanges pay health care providers less and have tighter management of patients' treatment options, and that means lower premiums and taxpayer subsidies.
Medicaid adds almost $800 billion in costs over the decade.
CBO is a nonpartisan congressional agency that does research and cost estimates for lawmakers.
EARNS-CITIGROUP
Citigroup's earnings edge higher in first quarter
NEW YORK (AP) — Citigroup says its first-quarter earnings rose, beating the expectations of Wall Street analysts.
The bank made $4.1 billion in the first quarter, after stripping out the effects of an accounting change and a tax item. That was up 2.5 percent from the same period a year earlier, when it made $4 billion.
Citi got a boost from improving results in its Citi Holdings unit, which is selling off assets such as mortgages that soured in the financial crisis. The bank also benefited from a small drop in expenses.
On a per-share basis, that amounted to $1.30 compared with $1.29 a year ago. That was better than estimates of analysts polled by FactSet, who had been expecting $1.14.
Revenue was $20.1 billion. That was down 2 percent from the same period last year when the bank generated revenue of $20.6 billion.
Analysts had forecast revenue of $19.5 billion.
SOUTHWEST AIRLINES-PROFIT SHARING
Southwest says profit-sharing nearly doubles
DALLAS (AP) — Southwest Airlines says employees will get a record $228 million in profit-sharing this year, nearly double the payout of a year ago.
The airline said Monday that the payout is based on results from 2013, when net income hit a record $754 million.
Earnings and stock prices for airlines soared last year, and employees at some carriers are benefiting. Delta Air Lines Inc. said in February that it would pay $506 million in profit-sharing.
Dallas-based Southwest also owns AirTran Airways and is the nation's fourth-biggest airline operator. Employees own about 4 percent of Southwest's stock. The company has nearly 45,000 employees and is negotiating new contracts with its union workers.
Southwest's shares gained 84 percent in 2013 and began Monday up 21 percent in 2014.
GENERAL MOTORS-PERSONNEL
General Motors to replace heads of communications and human resources in executive shakeup
DETROIT (AP) — General Motors is replacing its chiefs of communications and human resources.
The company says communications head Selim Bingol and human resources chief Melissa Howell are leaving GM to pursue other interests.
GM named John Quattrone to replace Howell. No replacement has been named for Bingol.
The company is struggling with a series of embarrassing recalls, including 2.6 million small cars worldwide due to a faulty ignition switches. GM says at least 13 deaths have been linked to the ignition switch problem. Family members of those killed say the death toll is much higher.
SMARTPHONE DURABILITY
Study: Samsung phone durable, but iPhone has edge
NEW YORK (AP) — A study finds that Samsung's new Galaxy S5 smartphone is more durable than last year's model and other leading Android phones, but the iPhone 5s outperforms all of them in part because of its smaller size.
The S5 scores well given its water resistance and a sturdy back panel made of plastic. But SquareTrade, a provider of extended protection plans, gives the iPhone points for being just 4 inches diagonally, compared with about 5 inches for the Android phones. That makes the iPhone easier to grip and thus less likely to slip out of one's hands.
Nonetheless, all the smartphones tested have a medium risk of breakage, and differences between the various phones aren't major.
SquareTrade provided The Associated Press with the results ahead of Monday afternoon's announcement.
NETFLIX-COMCAST
Netflix's Comcast deal improves quality of video
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Netflix's videos are streaming through Comcast's Internet service at their highest speeds in the past 17 months now that Netflix is paying for a more direct connection to Comcast's network.
Data released Monday by Netflix Inc. showed Comcast delivered its video at an average rate of 2.5 megabits per second during March. That was a 66 percent increase from a recent low of 1.51 megabits per second in January.
The March performance also topped the previous monthly high of 2.17 megabits per second that Netflix had recorded on Comcast since the video service began tracking the streaming speeds of Internet service providers in November 2012.
The dramatic upswing came in the first full month after Netflix agreed in mid-February to pay Comcast Corp. an undisclosed amount for better access.
WORLD TRADE
World trade predicted to improve next year
GENEVA (AP) — The World Trade Organization predicts global commerce will grow 5.3 percent next year, an improvement that would bring it back in line with its 1993-2013 historic average.
In its annual report released Monday, the Geneva-based WTO also forecast that world trade will rise by 4.7 percent this year. This is an increase of 0.2 percentage points compared with previous forecasts for 2014.
The figures reflect growing confidence that developed countries have recovered from the economic crisis that caused global trade to slump in 2009.
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