The search was still on in Florida Tuesday for the winner of the largest Powerball jackpot in history.
The winning ticket is worth $590.5 million. The winner could claim a lump sum of about $371 million and after the lottery withholds 25% to pay federal taxes, would be left with nearly $280 million after taxes.
That means the winner will be able to decide how to invest $280 million – likely more money than they've ever had before – if, of course, it's not spent in a frivolous splurge.
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It's been a tumultuous couple of months for the yellow metal, which has investors asking: Are gold prices near a bottom?
There's hope this price plunge is ending.
Year-to-date, gold is lower by 17%. But after seven trading sessions where gold prices slumped, on Monday June gold futures gained 1.4%, or $19.40, to $1,384.10. Contract prices bounced as much as 2.4% after sliding 2.1%.
Now technical analysis points to a rebound in the yellow metal to $1,500 in June, following the "double bottom" hit Monday.
A double bottom involves three moves: a drop, a rebound, and another drop to the previous low. Chart watchers deem the pattern as bullish. A classic double bottom reversal typically marks an intermediate or long term change in trend.
"This shows that gold is probably ready to climb," Matthew Schilling, a commodity broker at Chicago based R.J. O'Brien told Bloomberg News. "The reversal was proof that we have found a bottom."
In just 10 minutes Monday, in the wake of gold's rally, holdings in exchange-traded products backed by gold soared by $1.7 billion.
Fueling the buying were comments from Moody's that a downgrade of U.S. debt is likely if the government fails to get its finances in order in 2013.
To get more info, we asked Morning Morning Global Resource Specialist Peter Krauth if he thought a gold-price bottom was near.
"I thing gold is somewhat oversold," Krauth said. "Yesterday's price action, when gold shot up by about $40 within four hours seems to reflect the thinking that it's due for a bounce."
Krauth said this year's gold price correction was expected.
"After a 12-year bull market with no true correction like that in 1974-1976 time frame, one more is due. I would not be surprised to see gold eventually correct a bit further before making a final bottom.
"That being said, if it were to turn up and stay above $1,550, then it's likely this correction would be over," he continued.
The energy sector, after facing a terrible 2012, is finally on the rebound in 2013 largely due to a rise in oil production in the U.S. The sector started the year on a strong note but lost its momentum later. However, it seems that the sector has again gained strength and is riding on strong […]
Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI) is set to report third quarter 2013 results on May 21. Last quarter, its results were in line with our expectations. Let’s see how things are shaping up for this announcement. Growth Factors This Past Quarter Analog Devices' second-quarter earnings were in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 44 cents. […]
Those natural gas companies awaiting approval to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) got a hopeful sign last week.
The push toward the United States becoming a prominent LNG exporter moved forward Friday. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) approved only the second facility to export LNG to countries without a free trade agreement with the United States.
The Obama administration gave the thumbs up (a 20-year approval) to the Freeport LNG project in Texas. It is owned 50/50 by ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) and Michael Smith, the founder, chairman and CEO of Basin Exploration (later sold to Stone Energy).
You're reading it right now.
I'm calling it WII (WHY?), which stands for Washington Insights & Indictments.
Enjoy it.
It's likely to be a single issue.
The markets are tapping new highs and shell-shocked investors are doing two things:
1) Coming in off the sidelines; and,
2) looking for dividend stocks in a zero-rate environment.
Unfortunately, many U.S. choices are "bid" up right now. Having run 144% off the March 2009 lows, the easy money's been made. U.S. Treasuries offer 1.77% over 10 years and the average S&P 500 stock is generating a mere 2.01%.
Last July, we warned you that oil prices could potentially be manipulated in similar fashion to the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor), and now a recent raid of major oil companies highlights this growing danger to the $3.4 trillion-a-year crude market.
The European Commission last week stormed the offices of Royal Dutch Shell PLC (NYSE ADR: RDS.A, RDS.B), BP PLC ( NYSE ADR: BP), and Statoil ASA (NYSE ADR: STO) as part of the ongoing investigation to find out whether companies are manipulating oil prices and, if so, how long it has been going on and the possible ramifications.
"The commission has concerns that the companies may have colluded in reporting distorted prices to a price reporting agency (PRA) to manipulate the published prices for a number of oil and biofuel products," the EC said in a statement.
Besides major oil companies, big banks are active in the energy market and would likely benefit from any manipulation, David Frenk, director of research at the financial reform group Better Markets and a former commodities analyst, told CNN.
The ordeal has brought back memories not only of last year's Libor scandal but also of the actions taken 12 years ago by Enron to control energy prices.
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The Yahoo-Tumblr deal is a $1.1 billion gamble aimed at rejuvenating a stagnating business, but is more likely to end up a costly mistake.
The deal, announced today (Monday), is by far Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer's biggest – and riskiest – acquisition yet.
Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO) wanted access to Tumblr's 117 million users, most of them teens and young adults, to give it a beachhead into the ever-more important world of social media.
Tumblr has grown rapidly by making it easy not only to create blogs, but for Tumblr users to follow and share one another's posts.
But Tumblr, like so many other social media companies, is not exactly a money machine. Analysts estimate the company's 2012 revenue was just $13 million, making it a pricey acquisition indeed.
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If you're wondering why silver prices fell sharply Monday, it looks like the answers lie in Asia.
Silver prices staged a sharp recovery Monday after volatile trading that took the white metal tumbling 9% in 10 minutes to $20.25 an ounce, a level not seen since 2010.
The steep selloff followed a spike in the Japanese yen against the dollar. Precious metals traders surmise investors were forced to sell silver to cover losses in the currency market. The result was a rash of automated sell orders.
Indeed, the effect has so extreme and rapid, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange halted silver futures trading four times to restrain volatility and rein in excessive price movements, a move known as Stop Logic. Because volumes for silver are lower than for gold, they are more prone to sharp swings, up and down.
Data shows more than 3,000 contracts in Comex silver futures sold in just 20 minutes during early Asian trading. Standard Bank in Tokyo confirmed an unidentified investor sold a sizable position of silver Monday morning.
"The drastic move lower happened pretty much after the CME's electronic platform Globex opening," Afshin Nabvi, MKS head of trading told Reuters.
"The move was exacerbated by the fact that it happened when liquidity was very thin in Asian trade," he continued. "If the same happened in London or New York hours, the size of the liquidation might have been cushioned by higher volumes."
