stock market
Strong retail sales in MarchPosted by RJ and Makay on Apr 16, 2012 |
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Retail sales rose 0.8% in March as consumers increased their spending on a wide range of goods and services for the third straight month, the Commerce Department reported today. The retail sales increase easily beat economists’ forecasts of 0.4%. Consumer spending accounts for 70% of the nation’s economy, so experts are likely to revise upward their forecasts for first quarter gross domestic product (GDP).
Moody’s Investors Service has cited Ameriprise Financial Inc. and Lincoln National Corp. for their strong variable annuity (VA) hedging programs in Moody’s recent report on the most frequently asked questions about variable annuities. Ameriprise has gained an edge through controlled distribution.
With yesterday’s rise in U.S. stocks, the Standard and Poor’s 500 index had its best eight-day gain since 2009, on speculation that the U.S. economy will keep expanding. The S&P 500 was up 8.5% from August 19 through August 31, and yesterdays 74.89 gain in the Dow Jones Industrials erased the year-to-date decline in the Dow.
