Stocks rise on hopeful signs for the US economy

Trader Kevin Lodewick works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Thursday, May 2, 2013. Stocks are opening higher on Wall Street, a day after the market's biggest fall in two weeks, after General Motors and other big companies announced higher profits. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Trader Kevin Lodewick works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Thursday, May 2, 2013. Stocks are opening higher on Wall Street, a day after the market's biggest fall in two weeks, after General Motors and other big companies announced higher profits. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Encouraging news about the U.S. economy extended the stock market's rally Friday.

Small-company stocks rose the most, a sign that investors are taking on more risk. Two companies soared in their stock-market debuts in the latest indication that the market for initial public offerings is reviving.

A gauge of future economic activity rose more than analysts had expected, as did a measure of consumer confidence, adding to evidence that the economy is steadily recovering.

Stocks closed higher for a fourth straight week. Indexes are at record levels after surging this year on optimism about the economy and record corporate earnings. The market is also being supported by ongoing stimulus from the Federal Reserve, which is keeping long-term borrowing costs at historically low levels.

"This slow but relatively steady growth, that keeps inflation in check and keeps interest rates low, is actually a pretty healthy environment for the stock market," said Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab & Co. "Right now we are very optimistic."

General Motors rose $1.03, or 3.2 percent, to $33.42. The automaker's stock is trading above the $33 price of its November, 2010 initial public offering for the first time in two years.

Northrop Grumman gained $3.17, or 3.2 percent, to $82.19 after the defense contractor said its board approved the repurchase of another $4 billion in stock, and that it plans to buy back a quarter of its outstanding shares by the end of 2015.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 121.18 points, or 0.8 percent, to 15,354.40. The index gained 1.6 percent for the week and is up 17.2 percent for the year.

The index started higher, then drifted through the rest of the morning. The index added to its gains in the afternoon, climbing about 70 points in the last two hours of the day.

The Standard & Poor' 500 index rose 15.65 points, or 1 percent, to 1,666.12. The gauge is up 2 percent this week and has gained 16.8 percent this year.

After some lackluster reports on the economy Thursday, including slowing manufacturing and an increase in applications for unemployment benefits, Friday's reports were a tonic for investors.

The Conference Board said its index of leading economic indicators rose 0.6 percent last month after a revised decline of 0.2 percent in March. The index is intended to predict how the economy will be doing in three to six months.

The University of Michigan's preliminary survey of consumer confidence climbed to 83.7. Economists had predicted that the gauge would climb to 76.8.

The strength of the rally in stocks has taken many by surprise, leaving investors waiting for a drop in prices to get into the market, said Jim Anderson, an investment specialist at JPMorgan. The S&P 500 index hasn't fallen for two consecutive days in a month.

"Everyone is waiting for a pullback," Anderson said. "Every client asks me, 'When are we getting a pullback?' With so many people waiting for it, and pouncing on it when it arrives, it's over so quickly."

As well as giving stocks a lift, the positive economic reports also pushed government bond yields higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 1.96 percent from 1.88 percent Thursday as investors favored riskier assets.

The yield, which moves inversely to its prices, has jumped since May 3 after the government reported that hiring picked up sharply in April. The note started trading that day at 1.63 percent, its low for the year.

The move to riskier assets also gave small stocks a lift. The Russell 2000, an index of smaller companies, rose 10.94 points, or 1.1 percent, to 996.28. The index has surged this month and is performing better than both the Dow and the S&P 500 for the year. It's up 17.3 percent so far in 2013.

Small stocks are doing well partly because they are more focused on the U.S., which is recovering, and don't rely as much on sales from recession-plagued Europe, as larger companies do.

Gold fell for a seventh straight day, dropping $22.20, or 1.6 percent, to $1,364 an ounce. The precious metal is down almost 20 percent this year and has fallen out of favor as an alternative investment as the stock market has surged this year.

The demand for gold as an alternative asset is also being undermined by a recent surge in the U.S. dollar. The U.S. currency advanced against both the euro and the yen Friday. The ICE dollar index, which measures the strength of the U.S. currency against a group of six currencies, is at its highest in two years.

The price of oil rose 86 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $96.02 a barrel.

The Nasdaq composite climbed 33.72 points, or 1 percent, to 3,498. The technology-heavy stock index got a small boost from Facebook, which climbed 12 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $26.25 on the one-year anniversary of its initial public offering.

Facebook slumped in the first four months after its market debut on concern that it wasn't doing enough to develop mobile advertising. Despite recovering since then, it's still trading below its IPO price of $38.

Two software companies had more success in their stock market debuts on Friday. Marketo surged $10.10, or 77.7 percent, to $23.10 on its stock market debut. Tableau software rose $19.75, or 63.7 percent, to $50.75 on its first day of trading.

The standout performance made the two companies the two best performing IPOs of the year. So far, 22 companies have prices stock sales in May, making this the biggest month for stock market debuts since November 2007, according to Renaissance Capital.

Among other stocks making big moves;

? J.C. Penney fell 78 cents, or 4.2 percent, to $18.01 after the retailer reported a loss that was worse than analysts' already dismal estimates. The retailer is reeling from the fallout from a failed turnaround plan orchestrated by its former CEO Ron Johnson, who was ousted last month after less than a year and a half on the job.

? Autodesk fell $2.67, or 6.7 percent, to $37.11, after the design software company posted disappointing first-quarter results and lowered its forecasts for the year.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-05-17-Wall%20Street/id-7c2e5ad04a9a4120811d489666c20e6e

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Police vow to solve shootings of 19 in New Orleans

New Orleans Police investigate shooting at the intersection Frenchman Street at N. Villere on Mother's Day in New Orleans, Sunday May 12, 2013. Gunmen opened fire on dozens of people marching in a Mother's Day neighborhood parade in New Orleans on Sunday, wounding at least 17, police said. (AP Photo/Doug Parker)

New Orleans Police investigate shooting at the intersection Frenchman Street at N. Villere on Mother's Day in New Orleans, Sunday May 12, 2013. Gunmen opened fire on dozens of people marching in a Mother's Day neighborhood parade in New Orleans on Sunday, wounding at least 17, police said. (AP Photo/Doug Parker)

New Orleans Police investigate shooting at the intersection Frenchman Street at N. Villere on Mother's Day in New Orleans, Sunday May 12, 2013. Gunmen opened fire on dozens of people marching in a Mother's Day neighborhood parade in New Orleans on Sunday, wounding at least 17, police said. (AP Photo/Doug Parker)

New Orleans Police investigate shooting at the intersection Frenchman Street at N. Villere on Mother's Day in New Orleans, Sunday May 12, 2013. Gunmen opened fire on dozens of people marching in a Mother's Day neighborhood parade in New Orleans on Sunday, wounding at least 17, police said. (AP Photo/Doug Parker)

New Orleans police officer collects evidence at the scene of a shooting at the intersection Frenchman Street at N. Villere on Mother's Day in New Orleans, Sunday May 12, 2013. Gunmen opened fire on dozens of people marching in a Mother's Day neighborhood parade in New Orleans on Sunday, wounding at least 17, police said. (AP Photo/Doug Parker)

Map locates News Orlean???s 7th Ward, where gunmen opened fire on a Mother???s Day neighborhood parade

NEW ORLEANS (AP) ? Video released early Monday by New Orleans police shows a possible suspect in the Mother's Day gunfire that wounded 19 people during a neighborhood parade.

The grainy surveillance video shows a crowd suddenly scattering in all directions, with some falling to the ground. They appear to be running from a man who turns and runs out of the picture. The person is wearing a white T-shirt and dark pants. The image isn't clear but police say they hope someone will recognize him and notify investigators.

Still pictures of the suspect have been posted on YouTube, police said.

Police believe more than one gun was fired in the burst of Sunday afternoon violence ? the latest to flare up around a celebration this year ? and they have vowed to swiftly track down those responsible. Detectives were conducting interviews, collecting any surveillance video they could find and gathering evidence from the scene. Cell phone video taken in the aftermath of the shooting shows victims lying on the ground, blood on the pavement and others bending over to comfort them.

Police also say the reward for information leading to arrests and indictments in the case is $10,000.

At least three of the victims were seriously wounded. Of the rest, many were grazed and authorities said that, overall, most wounds were not life threatening. No deaths were reported.

The victims included 10 men, seven women, a boy and a girl. The children, both 10 years old, were grazed and in good condition.

It's not the first time gunfire has shattered a festive mood in the city this year. Five people were wounded in January after a Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade, and four were wounded in a shooting in the French Quarter in the days leading up to Mardi Gras.

"The specialness of the day doesn't appear to interrupt the relentless drumbeat of violence," Mayor Mitch Landrieu said at a news conference outside a hospital where victims were being treated Sunday night.

Mary Beth Romig, a spokeswoman for the FBI in New Orleans, said federal investigators have no indication the shooting was an act of terrorism.

"It's strictly an act of street violence in New Orleans," she said.

As many as 400 people came out for the second-line procession ? a boisterous New Orleans tradition ? though only half that many were in the immediate vicinity of the shooting, Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas said. Officers were interspersed with the marchers, which is routine for such events.

Police saw three suspects running from the scene. No arrests had been made as of late Sunday.

Outside the hospital Sunday night, Leonard Temple became teary as he talked about a friend who was in surgery after being shot three times during the parade. Temple was told the man was hit while trying to push his own daughter out of the way.

"People were just hanging out. We were just chilling. And this happened. Bad things always happen to good people," said Temple, who was at the parade but didn't see the shootings.

Second-line parades are loose processions in which people dance down the street, often following behind a brass band. They can be planned events or impromptu offshoots of other celebrations. They trace their origins to the city's famous jazz funerals.

A social club called The Original Big 7 organized Sunday's event. The group was founded in 1996 at the Saint Bernard housing projects, according to its MySpace page.

The neighborhood where the shooting happened is a mix of low-income and middle-class row houses, some boarded up. As of last year, the 7th Ward's population was about 60 percent of its pre-Hurricane Katrina level.

The crime scene was about 1.5 miles from the heart of the French Quarter and near the Treme neighborhood, which has been the centerpiece for the HBO TV series "Treme."

Sunday's violence comes at a time when the city is struggling to pay for tens of millions of dollars required under federal consent decrees to reform the police department and the city jail.

Shootings at parades and neighborhood celebrations have become more common in recent years as the city has struggled with street crime, sometimes gang-related.

In January, police said a feud resulted in the drive-by shooting that wounded five people about 30 minutes after a parade had passed by on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The next month, four people were shot following an argument in the French Quarter during the last weekend of partying before Mardi Gras. Arrests were made in both cases.

Police vowed to solve Sunday's shooting, too. Serpas said it wasn't clear if particular people in the second line were targeted, or if the shots were fired at random.

"We'll get them. We have good resources in this neighborhood," Serpas said.

___

Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Michael Kunzelman and Kevin McGill in New Orleans and AP Radio reporter Jackie Quinn in Washington.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-05-13-US-Mother's-Day-Parade-Shooting/id-37148b4977f94bcd8d8d4b0c3569c6c8

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Finding Nematostella: An ancient sea creature

Friday, May 3, 2013

There's a new actor on the embryology stage: the starlet sea anemone Nematostella vectensis. Its career is being launched in part by Stowers Institute for Medical Research Associate Investigator Matt Gibson, Ph.D., who is giving it equal billing with what has been his laboratory's leading player, the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster.

Gibson's lab investigates the cellular and molecular mechanisms used by cells to assemble into layers or clusters during embryogenesis. Those tissues, comprised of densely packed cells known as epithelial cells, shape the body not only of simple creatures but also of mammals, where they line every body cavity from lung to intestine and form hormone- and milk-secreting glands. Unfortunately these cells have a dark side too- over 80% of human cancers, carcinomas, are of epithelial origin.

The Gibson lab has historically used the genetic powerhouse Drosophila to investigate the control of epithelial cell shape and proliferation during wing, leg and eye development. Breaking with tradition, their new study published in the May 15th, 2013 issue of Development, explains how developing sea anemone larvae construct an even more basic epithelial appendage, the tentacle. The paper charts how epithelial cell shape changes drive tentacle development and is also the first to identify candidate genes driving those changes. Most of all, by putting a new model organism representing one of the simplest animals center stage, the study illuminates some of the most fundamental principles animals use to construct a body.

Lacking even left-right symmetry, sea anemones are evolutionarily ancient. But during embryogenesis their larvae compensate for an uninspiring torso by sprouting tentacles from thickened epithelial buds surrounding their mouth. "Nematostella's body is basically a bag of epithelium," says Gibson. "And that simplicity makes it a great system for determining how epithelial cells act collectively to shape an appendage. Taking advantage of this fast, easy and cheap experimental system, we can quickly answer questions that give us deep insight into a process, at both the mechanistic and evolutionary levels."

The all-Stowers study, led by first author Ashleigh Fritz, a graduate student at the University of Kansas School of Medicine working in the Gibson lab, began by imaging Nematostella larvae at the cellular level before, during, and immediately after "juvenile" tentacles sprang from their body. Freshly hatched Nematostella larvae are under intense pressure to get their tentacles up and running, as they use them to pull food toward their mouths. The question was, what kind of cellular reshuffling drove these survival-dependent changes in morphology?

"We thought tentacle outgrowth might be driven by cell proliferation," says Fritz, noting that some of Nematostella's freshwater cousins sprout appendages by constant cell division. "Instead, we observed that cells begin thickened and then thin out as tentacles elongate." In other words, the process was driven not by cell duplication along a "tentacle axis" but rather by stretching a stockpile of cells.

Embryologists call the embryonic thickening of epithelial cells that provides raw material for a mature structure a placode. "Placodes have appeared over and over throughout evolution," says Gibson, noting that placodes give rise to wings or eyes in flies and feathers and teeth in vertebrates. "Discovering that placodes are also utilized in animals as seemingly primitive as Nematostella shows how fundamental this strategy is in evolution."

The group also showed that activation of a cellular receptor known as Notch was mandatory for tentacles to emerge from a placode. Newly hatched Nematostella larvae swimming in lab seawater laced with a drug that blocks Notch receptor activity failed to sprout tentacles.

The researchers also constructed microarrays from tissue isolated at early, mid, and late stages of tentacle extension, allowing global comparison of the collection of mRNAs, or the "transcriptome", at each stage. That effort, driven by Stowers Research Advisor Chris Seidel, Ph.D., and Ariel Paulson of the Stowers Computational Biology Core, is an obligatory step in pioneering any new model organism.

"Transcriptome analysis led us to identify novel tentacle markers," says Fritz, referring to molecular probes used to define a particular cell type. "Also gene expression patterns that we and others have identified allowed us to construct the first-ever molecular model of how tentacles are patterned."

In short, the study not only suggests universal principles underlying sculpting of epithelial structures from a placode, but also provides investigators with a toolkit to test whether specific genes drive the process.

An added bonus is that in 2007 a consortium of researchers sequenced the Nematostella genome and reported it to be more "human-like" in size and structure than that of Drosophila or another widely used model system, the nematode C. elegans. As a result, Gibson thinks that for many key questions, Nematostella may represent a better laboratory model than either.

"The common ancestor of sea anemones, flies, and humans likely had a surprisingly complex genome," he says, explaining that over millions of years of evolution flies and worms might have lost some genomic complexity. "As a result, these seemingly simple animals share some key genomic characteristics with humans and other vertebrates."

The Gibson laboratory continues to use both flies and sea anemones to ask how epithelial proliferation is controlled and why epithelial placode formation is so prevalent in developing embryos. Their next task is to develop molecular approaches to test how specific genes govern Nematostella embryogenesis. "Right now we are actively working on experimental tools, including techniques to knockout, edit or overexpress genes in Nematostella," says Gibson. "This paper opens up new ground and lays foundation for a next round of more deeply mechanistic studies."

###

Stowers Institute for Medical Research: http://www.stowers-institute.org

Thanks to Stowers Institute for Medical Research for this article.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/128106/Finding_Nematostella__An_ancient_sea_creature

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Start your day with a beautiful MMA behind-the-scenes video

There are plenty of fight highlight videos, but few give such a stark, behind-the-scenes look as this one. Some of the moments carry more weight when you know the story behind them. Melvin Guillard hugging Donald Cerrone and coach Greg Jackson is a beautiful moment on its own, but takes on more significance when you know Guillard once trained with Jackson and Cerrone. The run-up to their fight was tense, but afterwards they shared a hug.

But most of the images need no background. Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva celebrating after he knocked out Alistair Overeem, Joe Benavidez giving a quick fist-bump through the curtain of the medical area, and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua not wanting to put a hat on his bruised, swollen head say enough.

Thanks to MMA Fighting.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/start-day-beautiful-mma-behind-scenes-video-132154458.html

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