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24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — March 19, 2013: Market Closes Mixed Without Solution in Cyprus (JNPR, RIO, CHK, EBAY, EA, FF, SBLK, FDS, WAG, ADBE, CTAS, FTEK, WSM, FDX, GIS, LEN, AFFY, S, HAL, SLB)

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By 24/7 Wall St.

Bull and Bear figures

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U.S. equity markets opened higher this morning but worries about a resolution to the banking crisis in Cyprus soon took over and pushed shares down. In other parts of Europe, Spain’s bad loan ratio rose to 10.78% in January and eurozone economic sentiment came in far below expectations. German 10-year bond yields fell on a rising dollar. In Asia, China’s central bank will drain 39 billion yuan in liquidity with a short-term repurchase agreement after foreign direct investment fell less than expected in the month. In the U.S., the report on housing starts was somewhat better than last month, with an annualized 917,000 new homes being built (more coverage here). The Cypriot parliament rejected a revised tax proposal on bank deposits (more coverage here), so it’s anyone’s guess what tomorrow may bring.

The U.S. dollar index rose 0.35% today, now at 82.983. The GSCI commodity index is down 0.3% at 650.30, with commodities prices mixed today. WTI crude oil closed down 1.7% today, at $92.16 a barrel. Brent crude trades down 1.8% at $107.50 a barrel. Natural gas is up 2.1% today at about $3.96 per million BTUs. Gold settled up 0.4% today at $1,611.30 an ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up about 4 points to 14,455.90 (0.03%), the NASDAQ fell more than 8 points (-0.26%) to 3,229.10, and the S&P 500 fell -0.24% or nearly 4 points to 1,548.35.

There were a several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Juniper Networks Inc. (NYSE: JNPR) cut to ‘sell’ at Goldman Sachs; Rio Tinto plc (NYSE: RIO) cut to ‘sell’ at Goldman Sachs; Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) cut to ‘underperform’ at Sterne Agee (more coverage here); eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) raised to ‘buy’ with a price target of $56 at Cantor Fitzgerald; and Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) cut to ‘hold’ at Needham.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night resulted in several price moves today, including these: FutureFuel Corp. (NYSE: FF) is down 9.2% at $12.40; Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ: SBLK) is up 5.7% at $6.50; FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE: FDS) is down 5.6% at $92.52; and Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG) is up 5.2% at $44.65 (more coverage here).

Before markets open tomorrow morning we are scheduled to hear from Adobe Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE), Cintas Corp. (NASDAQ: CTAS), Fuel Tech Inc. (NASDAQ: FTEK), Williams-Sonoma Inc. (NYSE: WSM), FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX), General Mills Inc. (NYSE: GIS), and Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN).

Some standouts among heavily traded stocks today include:

Affymax Inc. (NASDAQ: AFFY) is down 62.6% at $1.09 after posting a new 52-week low of $1.02 earlier today. The drugmaker fired 75% of its workforce today and will begin exploring “strategic alternatives” including bankruptcy. More coverage here.

Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) is up 2.9% at $6.05 after posting a new 52-week high of $6.09 earlier today. The telecom company had no big news today, but led a sector that was up on a down day.

Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL) is down 3.4% at $39.36. The oil field …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Citizen Feedback Drives More Efficiencies and a New Look for Maryland's Official State Website

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By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool

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Citizen Feedback Drives More Efficiencies and a New Look for Maryland’s Official State Website

ANNAPOLIS, Md.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Governor Martin O’Malley recently unveiled the State of Maryland’s new and improved official website, www.Maryland.gov, introducing the most user-friendly and engaging portal yet. The new Maryland.gov design is based on industry best practices, the latest web and mobile technologies, and focus group feedback gathered from across the state to incorporate the preferences and expectations Marylanders have for their state government website. Whether it’s identifying one of over 175 online services, engaging in social media, exploring maps or tuning in to alerts, Maryland.gov has been re-engineered to make your State government more available, more helpful, and more convenient.

“Whether on a smartphone, tablet, or laptop, the new Maryland.gov is easy to navigate, easy to access and makes it easier to share information,” said Governor Martin O’Malley. “In an ever changing 21st century world, government must continuously evolve and adapt to meet the needs of the citizens we serve.”

The new site design promotes citizen engagement through deep integration of context-driven social media feeds throughout the main sections of the site encouraging citizens, businesses, and visitors to engage with their government. Maryland.gov also uses data in new ways to better serve Marylanders. The Near You interactive mapping function plots government offices and state parks closest to the user, and also taps into the Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA) queue system to display current wait times at branch offices.

The site’s development was led by Maryland’s Department of Information and Technology (DoIT) with its self-funded eGov partner, NIC Inc. Their research-driven design was informed by analyzing user searches and feedback, as well as local focus-group outreach conducted last August. Intensive collaboration between agency web, GIS, and public information offices was integral to the site’s development, which is expected to raise the bar for ongoing upgrades and improved accessibility for Maryland’s enterprise sites.

“By leveraging the latest digital portal technologies, we are able to offer our constituents a wider array of communications channels and content with which to engage their state government,” said DoIT Secretary Elliot Schlanger. “This is much, much more than a face-lift to Maryland.gov.”

New Features in 2013