Car Sales Continue Their Climb

By 
Published: February 1, 2013

DETROIT — American automakers said new-vehicle sales in the United States rose sharply in January, raising expectations that the industry’s steady recovery would accelerate in 2013.

General Motors, the largest of the Detroit auto companies, said it sold 194,000 cars and trucks during the month, a 15.9 percent increase over the same period a year ago. The company said all four of its brands — Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC and Buick — had double-digit increases in January.

G.M. also rebounded from tepid sales of its core pickup trucks in recent months. The company said sales of its Chevrolet Silverado pickup increased 32 percent compared to January 2012, and sales of the GMC Sierra improved 35 percent.

“The year is off to a very good start for General Motors,” said Kurt McNeil, head of G.M.’s United States sales operations. “There’s a sense of optimism among our dealers that only comes when you pair a growing economy with great new products.”

Last year, the overall American auto industry had its best performance in five years with sales of 14.5 million vehicles — a 13 percent increase over 2011.

Automakers and industry analysts are forecasting sales this year to be as high as 15.5 million vehicles. The optimistic projections were in part because of a growing need by consumers to replace aging vehicles, as well as improvements in the economy.

Ford Motor Company, the second-biggest of the Detroit automakers, said its sales in January rose 21.8 percent to 166,000 vehicles.

Ford reported that its passenger cars did particularly well, with an increase for the month of 34.1 percent. Sales of the recently redesigned Ford Fusion midsize sedan increased 64.5 percent.

Executives at Ford said the company expects consumer demand to consistently grow in 2013.

“The biggest driver of the year is going to be replacement,” said Ken Czubay, Ford’s United States sales and marketing chief.

Chrysler, the smallest American car company, said it sold 117,000 vehicles in January. That was a 16.3 percent increase over the same month in 2012, and extended Chrysler’s year-over-year sales gains to 34 consecutive months.

Chrysler said sales of cars rose about 50 percent during the month, while sales of SUVs and trucks increased by 3 percent. Its new small car, the Dodge Dart, had its best performance since being introduced last summer, the company said.

Toyota, the largest Japanese automaker, said its sales in January grew 26.6 percent to 157,000 vehicles.

Tiny Sensors Could Give an Atom-Level View of Proteins

The advance could help researchers better understand the role of proteins in disease.

By Susan Young on February 1, 2013

Two reports published online in Science on Thursday open up the possibility that researchers may be able to determine the structure of individual proteins in living cells. Although the work is still in early stages, the potential is that researchers could get a better handle on the role of proteins in disease.

Physicists in the U.S. and Germany report important steps toward magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, of molecules in two separate studies. In both reports, the researchers show how specially modified diamond flakes can be used as nanoscale magnetic field detectors. These tiny sensors can elucidate the structure of single organic molecules. With nanoscale MRI, researchers may one day be able to directly image proteins and other molecules at the atomic scale.

“If you can see on single molecule scale what is going on, and understand more details about what is happening, you may be able to find exactly what the problem is and target it specifically,” says Texas A&M University electrical engineer Philip Hemmer, who was not involved in the study but wrote a perspective on the work for the same issue of Science.

Currently, researchers have limited tools to study the molecular structure of proteins. X-ray diffraction can give them an atomic-level view of some proteins, but many copies of the protein must be crystallized into a rigid lattice, a process that does not work for all proteins and results in an averaging of protein shape. Conventional MRI, which can be used by doctors to peek inside the body, doesn’t let researchers see anything smaller than a few micrometers in size because the detectors aren’t sensitive enough to pick up magnetic field signals from very small structures. The authors of one of this week’s studies, led by Daniel Rugar, manager of nanoscale studies for IBM Research, had previously reported a method to study single molecules at the nanometer level, but that technique required ultra-cold cryogenic conditions, which precludes studies on living cells.

To develop a method that works at ambient temperatures with single, unmodified molecules, Rugar’s team, as well as a group based Stuttgart, Germany, takes advantage of defects in flakes of diamond that behave as tiny magnetic field sensors.  The teams show that they can detect atomic sizes as small as five nanometers. Both groups examined a plastic-like organic polymer called PMMA, and the Germany-based team also looked at molecules within oils and other liquids.

Friedemann Reinhard, a coauthor on the Germany-based study, says that today’s results are a step toward a new technique that could determine the three-dimensional structure of a specific protein, perhaps even while it acts in a larger biological structure. Such studies could help identify differences in proteins, including spotting misbehaving proteins that might be implicated in triggering disease. Indeed, directly seeing the structure of a single protein has long been a dream of biologists. Says Reinhard: “It finally might be feasible.”

Hiring at small business hiring picks up in January: NFIB

WASHINGTON | Thu Jan 31, 2013 1:53pm EST

(Reuters) – U.S. small businesses boosted employment in January by the most in nine months, helped by the transportation and real estate sectors, the National Federation of Independent Business said on Thursday.

The NFIB said the net change in employment per firm rose to 0.09 this month from 0.03 in December.

January’s reading was the highest since April 2012.

The NFIB survey was released a day ahead of the government’s monthly payrolls report. Analysts polled by Reuters expect non-farm payrolls to have increased by 160,000 in January, a lackluster rate although marginally higher than in December.

The jobless rate is seen holding steady at 7.8 percent.

(Reporting by Jason Lange; Editing by Leslie Adler)

Employment report points to steady economic growth

By Lucia Mutikani

WASHINGTON | Fri Feb 1, 2013 11:08am EST

(Reuters) – Employment grew modestly in January and gains in the prior two months were bigger than initially reported, supporting views the economy’s sluggish recovery was on track despite a surprise contraction in output in the final three months of 2012.

Other data on Friday also suggested the recovery was intact, with factory activity hitting a nine-month high in January on strong new order growth. Consumer confidence perked.

Employers added 157,000 jobs to their payrolls last month and there were 127,000 more jobs created in November and December than previously reported, the Labor Department said.

The closely watched report showed an increase in hourly earnings and solid gains in construction and retail employment.

The unemployment rate, however, edged up 0.1 percentage point to 7.9 percent.

“This is actually a really good number when you take into account the net upward revision,” said Terry Sheehan, an economic analyst at Stone & McCarthy Research Associates in Princeton, New Jersey.

The Institute for Supply Management said its index of national factory activity rose to 53.1 last month, the highest level since April, from 50.2 in December. That offered hope manufacturing will continue to support the economy.

U.S. stocks rose on the fairly upbeat reports and the dollar advanced against the yen. U.S. Treasury debt prices were trading higher as the rise in the unemployment rate suggested the Federal Reserve would maintain its easy monetary policy stance.

OUTPUT CONTRACTION SEEN AS A FLUKE

Coming on the heels of data on Wednesday showing a surprise contraction in gross domestic product in the fourth quarter, the reports should ease any worries the economy was at risk of recession, even though the unemployment rate ticked up.

GDP contracted at a 0.1 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter, largely because of a sharp slowdown in the pace of inventory accumulation and a plunge in defense spending.

A monster storm that hit the East Coast in late October also weighed on output, a drag that should lift this quarter.

“This shows that underneath the surface, the fourth-quarter economy was really pretty good despite all the defense cuts. I think the private sector is leading the way,” said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at BMO Private Bank in Chicago.

Fed officials said on Wednesday that economic activity had “paused,” but they signaled optimism the recovery would regain speed with continued monetary policy support. The Fed left in place a monthly $85 billion bond-buying stimulus plan.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected employers to add 160,000 jobs and the unemployment rate to hold steady at 7.8 percent last month.

The Labor Department also published benchmark revisions to payrolls data going back to 2008. It said the employment level in March 2012 was 422,000 higher on a seasonally adjusted basis than previously reported. Average job growth in 2012 was raised to 181,000 a month from 153,000.

It also introduced new population factors for its survey of households from which the unemployment rate is calculated. This had a negligible effect on the major household survey measures.

MODEST JOB GROWTH

Economists say employment gains in excess of 250,000 a month over a sustained period are needed to significantly reduce unemployment.

Though the unemployment rate dropped from a peak of 10 percent in October 2009, that was mostly because some unemployed Americans gave up the search for work because of weak job prospects.

The share of the working age population with a job has been below 60 percent for almost four years.

All the job gains in January were in the private sector, where hiring was as broad-based as it was in December and declines in public sector employment remained moderate.

Steady job gains could help the economy weather the headwinds of higher taxes and government spending cuts. A payroll tax cut expired on January 1 and big automatic spending cuts are set to take hold in March unless Congress acts.

The goods-producing sector showed a third month of solid gains, with manufacturing employment advancing for a fourth straight month. Construction payrolls increased 28,000, adding to December’s healthy 30,000 gain.

Construction jobs are expected to rise further as the housing market recovery gains momentum. Housing is expected to support the economy this year, taking over the baton from manufacturing.

Within the vast private services sector, retail jobs increased by a solid 32,600 jobs after rising 11,200 in December. Retail employment has now risen for seven straight months.

Education and health payrolls added 25,000 jobs in January after employment grew by the most in 10 months in December.

Government payrolls dropped by 9,000 last month after falling 6,000 in December. The pace is moderating as local government layoffs, outside education, subside.

Average hourly earnings rose four cents last month. Hourly earnings have been rising steadily. They were up 2.1 percent in the 12 months through January.

“It may be that we are now getting to a point in the labor market where we are going to see an upward creep in average hourly earnings,” said John Ryding, chief economist at RDQ Economics in New York.

“That’s going to be good for the consumer and they need help because they are being whacked by the payrolls tax increase.”

The length of the workweek for the average worker was steady at 34.4 hours for a third straight month.

(Additional reporting by Ellen Freilich and Steven C. Johnson, and Leah Schnurr in New York; Editing by Andrea Ricci)

Battery Material Prevents Fires, Stores Five Times the Energy

Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a solid electrolyte to replace flammable ones used in lithium-ion batteries

By Kevin Bullis on January 25, 2013

An electrolyte developed by researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory could enable lithium-ion batteries that store five to 10 times more energy and are safer than the ones that recently caught fire on Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner.

While the cause of the Boeing fire hasn’t yet been determined, Boeing could have reduced the risk of fire by choosing a safer electrode chemistry (see “Grounded Boeing 787 Dreamliners Use Batteries Prone to Overheating”). But it would have had fewer options for the electrolyte—the material that allows current to flow through a battery. Lithium-ion batteries, even the ones that use relatively safe electrodes, still use flammable liquid electrolytes.

Solid electrolytes would be much safer, but it’s been difficult to make them conductive enough for use in batteries. The ORNL researchers, in work published in the current issue of the Journal of the American Chemistry Society, have an easy method for making a nanostructured form of one solid electrolyte. The nanostructure improves the material’s conductivity 1,000 times, enough to make it useful in lithium-ion batteries. The researchers also showed that the new material is compatible with high-energy electrodes.

The solid electrolyte isn’t as conductive as liquid electrolytes, but the researchers say they can compensate for this by making the electrolyte very thin, among other measures. Even then, the batteries might not charge as quickly or provide the same boost of power possible with liquid electrolytes, but this would be okay in many applications, such as in electric cars, where the sheer number of battery cells makes it easy to deliver adequate bursts of power.

The solid electrolyte not only makes batteries safer, it could also enable the use of higher energy electrode materials. As a result, while the rate at which these batteries deliver power may be less than today’s lithium-ion batteries, the total amount of energy they can store would be far higher. A much smaller battery could then be used—saving space and weight on airplanes and greatly reducing the cost of electric vehicles.

The solid electrolyte might be particularly suited to lithium-sulfur batteries, which can store a lot of energy, but have safety issues and can’t be recharged enough times to last the life of a car (see “Nanostructures Boost Battery Life Fivefold”). The lithium-metal electrodes can cause battery shorts and fires. The solid electrolyte helps stabilize the lithium metal and serves as a barrier to prevent shorts. The sulfur electrodes in these batteries also degrade when used with liquid electrolytes—some of the sulfur can be dissolved in the liquid and lost. The solid electrolyte prevents that.

The work is still at an early stage. So far, the researchers have only made small, half-inch test cells, And the results demonstrating the compatibility with lithium-sulfur batteries are still unpublished.

Canada sets start-up visa to attract entrepreneur immigrants

By Randall Palmer

OTTAWA | Thu Jan 24, 2013 10:50am EST

(Reuters) – Foreign innovators who want to set up new companies in Canada will be able to immigrate under a new start-up visa program that Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said on Thursday was the first of its kind in the world.

The new program, to be launched on April 1, is part of a government push to better align the immigration system with Canada’s economic goals. Last year, the government revamped the skilled worker program to try to make it meet employers’ needs more nimbly.

“Our new start-up visa will help make Canada the destination of choice for the world’s best and brightest to launch their companies,” Kenney said in a statement.

“Recruiting dynamic entrepreneurs from around the world will help Canada remain competitive in the global economy.”

Under this program, would-be immigrants would require the support of a Canadian venture capital fund or angel investor group, which would invest in new companies started by the immigrants.

Once candidates for the program are identified by these groups, the government would try to clear them for entry into Canada within weeks.

The goal is to unite Canadian money and foreign brains. An initial source of candidates could be frustrated foreigners in the high-tech sector in the United States who have not been able to land resident status there.

The Canadian start-up visa would grant permanent resident status, which can then lead to citizenship.

For now, Ottawa will work with two umbrella groups that will identify which members of their associations will be eligible to participate in the program. They are Canada’s Venture Capital & Private Equity Association (CVCA) and the National Angel Capital Organization.

“Through this program, we want to attract high-quality entrepreneurs from around the globe and help build best-in-class companies in Canada,” said Peter van der Velden, president of CVCA and managing general partner of Lumira Capital, which helps build health and life-science companies.

Kenney has put a moratorium on issuing on Canada’s existing entrepreneur visa, which only required an immigrant to hire one person for one year.

(Reporting by Randall Palmer; Editing by Peter Galloway)

Factory activity gains speed, jobless claims drop

By Jason Lange

WASHINGTON | Thu Jan 24, 2013 1:55pm EST

(Reuters) – Factory activity grew the most in nearly two years in January and the number of new claims for jobless benefits dropped to a five-year low last week, giving surprisingly strong signals on the economy’s pulse.

Financial information firm Markit on Thursday said its preliminary Purchasing Managers Index for manufacturing rose to 56.1 this month, its best showing since March 2011. A reading above 50 indicates expansion.

A separate report from the Labor Department showed initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell by 5,000 to 330,000, the lowest since January 2008 when the 2007-2009 recession had just begun.

Together, the data suggest the economy entered the new year with some underlying momentum despite an ongoing political battle in Washington over fiscal policy.

“The economy is structurally doing a little bit better,” said Michael Strauss, an economist at Commonfund in Wilton, Connecticut.

Analysts polled by Reuters had expected Markit’s “flash” factory gauge to slip and looked for claims to rise to 355,000.

The unexpectedly strong U.S. data helped U.S. stocks to rise, reversing early declines caused by disappointing revenues reported by Apple Inc. Better-than-expected economic news from the euro zone and China also supported stocks.

Economists have cautioned about reading too deeply into this month’s figures on jobless claims, which tend to be volatile around this time of the year because of large swings in the model the government uses to iron out seasonal fluctuations.

Still, claims have fallen for two straight weeks, suggesting employers do not yet see tax hikes enacted this month as a big threat to consumer demand.

A four-week moving average for new claims, meant to provide a better sense of underlying trends, fell 8,250 to 351,750, the lowest since March 2008.

The data helped the dollar extend gains versus the yen, while U.S. Treasury debt prices fell.

PRE-RECESSION LEVEL

Claims are now at roughly the same level they were in much of 2006 and 2007. They started trending higher around December 2007, the month the recession began.

However, while employers have pulled back on layoffs, they have only added jobs at a lackluster pace.

Analysts polled by Reuters expect the government’s employment report due on February 1 will show 165,000 jobs were added to payrolls this month, up from 155,000 new positions in December. The unemployment rate is expected to hold steady at 7.8 percent.

Like the claims data, Markit’s factory report also offered support for the idea that the labor market recovery was gaining traction with new jobs in the sector being created at the fastest pace in nine months.

A Markit subindex showed factory output grew at its fastest pace since March 2012, while new orders also rose. The new orders gauge hit 57.7, its highest level since May 2010.

Improved economic conditions in China and some parts of Europe helped boost orders from abroad, but firms largely tied the growth surge to higher demand from U.S. customers.

“It is the domestic market that is clearly providing the main impetus to the upturn,” said Markit chief economist Chris Williamson.

Aggressive monetary stimulus from the Federal Reserve and a last-minute deal by Congress to reduce the size of the tax hike gave a boost to business confidence, Williamson said.

A third gauge of economic health released on Thursday also beat analysts’ forecasts. The private Conference Board’s Leading Economic Index gained 0.5 percent to 93.9 last month, pointing to an improvement in growth.

(Additional reporting by Steven C. Johnson and Richard Leong in New York; Writing by Jason Lange and Tim Ahmann; Editing by Andrea Ricci)

Gauge of business spending plans edges higher

By Jason Lange

WASHINGTON | Mon Jan 28, 2013 1:34pm EST

(Reuters) – A gauge of business investment plans improved in December, a sign companies were betting the economy will pick up despite fears over tighter fiscal policy.

The Commerce Department said on Monday that non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for investment plans, edged up 0.2 percent last month.

Many economists expected businesses to invest more timidly late last year because of uncertainty over government spending cuts and tax increases, which had been scheduled to kick in this month. Congress ultimately struck a last-minute deal to avoid or postpone most of the austerity measures.

Despite the uncertainty, Monday’s data pointed to growing economic momentum as companies sensed improved consumer demand.

“It certainly seems to us that companies are slowly but surely expanding,” said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer at Solaris Group in Bedford Hills, New York.

In a further sign of business confidence, the November reading on capital spending plans was revised higher to show a 3 percent gain, up from the 2.6 percent rise reported a month ago.

A second report showed a measure of upcoming home resales took a breather in December, declining 4.3 percent. Still, the housing sector posted a rebound last year and economists expect it will add to growth again in 2013.

The business spending data pushed down prices for U.S. government debt, while giving the dollar a lift against the yen. But stock prices opened lower.

New orders for overall durable goods – long lasting factory goods from toasters to automobiles – jumped 4.6 percent in December, beating economists expectations of a 1.8 percent gain.

The gains were broad based, with orders for machinery, cars and primary metals all increasing.

“There’s a lot more confidence,” said Wayne Kaufman, an analyst at John Thomas Financial in New York.

Orders surged for civilian aircraft and military goods, although those two categories tend to be quite volatile.

Despite the stronger-than-expected demand at the nation’s factories, economists think economic growth cooled in the fourth quarter as companies slowed the pace at which they re-stocked their shelves.

Analysts polled by Reuters expect a report on gross domestic product due on Wednesday will show the economy expanded at a mere 1.1 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter, down from a 3.1 percent rate in the previous three months.

However, Monday’s report on new orders for long-lasting factory goods suggested businesses are feeling stronger demand from consumers, and are responding by buying more machines to meet that demand. TD Securities economist Millan Mulraine said capital investment likely added to economic growth in the fourth quarter.

(Additional reporting by Lucia Mutikani in Washington, and by Leah Schnurr and Ryan Vlastelica in New York; Editing by Neil Stempleman)

Stocks: Tech earnings to dominate

By Emily Jane Fox @CNNMoneyInvest January 20, 2013: 10:53 AM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Investors are heading into the shortened trading week with a deluge of technology focused quarterly financial reports on tap.

U.S. markets will be closed Monday in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

Earnings season will pick right back up again on Tuesday, as several tech giants, including Google (GOOGFortune 500), IBM (IBMFortune 500)and Verizon (VZFortune 500), release their quarterly reports.

The barrage of tech earnings will continue throughout the week, with AT&T (TFortune 500), Microsoft (MSFTFortune 500), Netflix (NFLX) and Nokia (NOK) following.

The most hotly anticipated report will come from Apple (AAPLFortune 500) on Wednesday.

The iPhone and iPad maker already warned that its profit margins would come down significantly during the final three months of the year thanks to higher production costs tied to all of its new products, including the iPhone 5 and the iPad mini. Less-expensive products, like the iPhone 4S and iPad mini, also make up a growing portion of Apple’s sales mix.

While expectations are all over the map, some analysts anticipate a year-over-year decline. That would mark Apple’s first drop in profits in nine years.

Overall, S&P 500 companies are expected to report earnings growth of 3.8% for the last three months of 2012, according to S&P’s Capital IQ.

In economic news, several pieces of data on the housing market are due throughout the week, including existing and new home sales and the MBA mortgage index.

The housing market has continued to pick up steam throughout the recovery, as record-low mortgage rates spur demand for homes. A recovering job market and a tapering off of foreclosures have also given the market a boost.

Last week, all three major indexes logged a third straight week of gains, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 climbing to their highest levels since December 2007. The Dow gained 1.2%, the S&P 500 rose 1% and the Nasdaq added 0.3%.

Agencies approve new mortgage appraisal requirements

WASHINGTON | Fri Jan 18, 2013 11:16am EST

(Reuters) – U.S. mortgage lenders making higher-priced loans to consumers must have properties appraised and provide borrowers a free copy of the report, under new rules released by six financial regulatory agencies on Friday.

The rule is part of an overhaul of mortgage market regulations, as U.S. officials try to prevent the types of industry abuses that contributed to millions of home foreclosures and helped spark the 2007-2009 U.S. financial crisis.

Lenders making loans with interest rates above a certain threshold, which do not meet the “qualified mortgage” definition set by regulators last week, will be required to have a certified appraiser visit the interior of the property, the regulators said.

In an effort to crack down on property flipping, regulators said creditors also must obtain a second appraisal if the difference between what the seller paid for the property and what the consumer will pay exceeds certain levels.

Six agencies approved the appraisal rules, which were called for by the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial oversight law and which will take effect in January 2014.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Federal Reserve, Federal Housing Finance Agency, National Credit Union Administration and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency all signed off on the rules.

(Reporting By Emily Stephenson; Editing by Neil Stempleman)