U.S. Stocks Close Lower, Breaking Record Streak

 
   By Alexandra Scaggs 
 

  Sir Alex retires 

• Thirteenth league title in 26 years will be his last

• Most successful manager in English football history to become a director of Manchester United FC 

NYSE: MANU.  Manchester, UK. Sir Alex Ferguson will retire at the end of the season, Manchester United announced today.  The most successful manager in English football history will bow out after the West Bromwich Albion game on 19 May and join the football club board. 

Announcing his decision to retire, Sir Alex Ferguson said:  “The decision to retire is one that I have thought a great deal about and one that I have not taken lightly. It is the right time.  “It was important to me to leave an organisation in the strongest possible shape and I believe I have done so. The quality of this league winning squad, and the balance of ages within it, bodes well for continued success at the highest level whilst the structure of the youth set-up will ensure that the long-term future of the club remains a bright one. 

“Our training facilities are amongst the finest in global sport and our home Old Trafford is rightfully regarded as one of the leading venues in the world.  “Going forward, I am delighted to take on the roles of both Director and Ambassador for the club. With these activities, along with my many other interests, I am looking forward to the future.  “I must pay tribute to my family, their love and support has been essential. My wife Cathy has been the key figure throughout my career, providing a bedrock of both stability and encouragement. Words are not enough to express what this has meant to me.

“As for my players and staff, past and present, I would like to thank them all for a staggering level of professional conduct and dedication that has helped to deliver so many memorable triumphs. Without their contribution the history of this great club would not be as rich.

“In my early years, the backing of the board, and Sir Bobby Charlton in particular, gave me the confidence and time to build a football club, rather than just a football team.

“Over the past decade, the Glazer family have provided me with the platform to manage Manchester United to the best of my ability and I have been extremely fortunate to have worked with a talented and trustworthy Chief Executive in David Gill. I am truly grateful to all of them.

“To the fans, thank you. The support you have provided over the years has been truly humbling. It has been an honour and an enormous privilege to have had the opportunity to lead your club and I have treasured my time as manager of Manchester United.”

Joel Glazer said:

“Alex has proven time and time again what a fantastic manager he is but he’s also a wonderful person. His determination to succeed and dedication to the Club have been truly remarkable.  I will always cherish the wonderful memories he has given us, like that magical night in Moscow."

Avie Glazer said:

“I am delighted to announce that Alex has agreed to stay with the Club as a director.  His contributions to Manchester United over the last 26 years have been extraordinary and, like all United fans, I want him to be a part of its future.”

David Gill said:

“I’ve had the tremendous pleasure of working very closely with Alex for 16 unforgettable years – through the Treble, the double, countless trophy wins and numerous signings.

“We knew that his retirement would come one day and we both have been planning for it by ensuring the quality of the squad and club structures are in first class condition.

“Alex’s vision, energy and ability have built teams – both on and off the pitch – that his successor can count on as among the best and most loyal in world sport.

“The way he cares for this club, his staff and for the football family in general is something that I admire. It is a side to him that is often hidden from public view but it is something that I have been privileged to witness in the last 16 years.

“What he has done for this club and for the game in general will never be forgotten. It has been the greatest experience of my working life being alongside Alex and a great honour to be able to call him a friend.”

The wreckage caused by China’s great, juddering slowdown continues to spread far beyond the country’s shores. Although most commodities enjoyed a bounce on May 3, after better-than-expected U.S. employment data, the plunge in their prices over the past few months suggests the past decade’s rally is truly broken.

After walking through what happened during the period of 2000-2011 (which saw a surge in prices and talk about " peak oil" ) Sharma says the opposite discussion is now occurring, that we have perhaps reached peak demand.

Now, as emerging nations begin to embrace energy efficiency as well -- China is working hard on electric cars, for instance, despite continuing to build dozens of coal plants -- global demand might flatten out this decade. The debate over “peak oil” scenarios may shift from the threat of dwindling supply to the threat of peaking demand.

Certainly, the world is no longer terrified of running out of important commodities. High prices have drawn investment to copper mines, aluminum smelters and other basic sources of supply. In the past decade, the amount of capital invested in the energy and materials sector, which includes most nonfarm commodities, has risen 600 percent, compared with an average increase of 200 percent in other sectors.

The idea that peak oil is now decisively a concept of the past has been getting a lot of play lately. Part of it is due to the fall in commodity demand growth. Part of it is due to the huge expansion of potential US supply, and what that means for global trade balances.

Meanwhile, the Australian economy is starting to crack, as its highly exposed to Chinese demand, and a strong market for commodities.

(Via Derek Brower)

Big revisions help brighten monthly US jobs report

(AP:WASHINGTON) The 165,000 jobs the U.S. economy added in April weren't the only reason to be cheered by Friday's employment report.

Nearly as significant were the Labor Department's revised estimates of how many jobs employers added in the previous two months. Whenever the government issues its employment report for the past month, it also revises the job totals for the previous two.

It turns out, the department said Friday, that many more jobs were created in February and March than first thought.

Initially, a severe slowdown seemed to have occurred in March: The government had estimated that just 88,000 jobs were added. That would have been the fewest in nine months.

That was then. Now, March looks much stronger. On Friday, the department said its revised estimate is that employers added 138,000 jobs in March.

The revisions for February were even better. The government now says employers added 332,000 jobs in February, compared with the 236,000 initially reported. Among private companies, 319,000 jobs were added _ the best monthly figure in nearly eight years.

Combined, the job gains from the February and March revisions totaled 114,000. Add them to April's hiring, and the economy has 279,000 more jobs than it did before Friday's report.

Over the past 12 months, the department's revisions have added a total of 309,000 jobs to the nation's payrolls.

The department revises each month's figures over the subsequent two months by reviewing further data from the companies and government agencies it surveys. Typically, about 75 percent of the 145,000 employers it surveys respond in time for each month's initial report. The response rate usually rises to about 95 percent two months later, when the third estimate is released.

The department also revises five years' worth of data each year in what it calls its " benchmark" annual revision. For those updates, it uses actual job counts from unemployment insurance tax records.

The revisions usually aren't as large as they were this time. After two revisions, February's total is now 96,000 higher than it was initially. Since 1979, the revisions have averaged about 57,000, up or down, per month.

Most of the revisions since the recession have been upward. Economists say that's a good sign because it points to an underlying trend. An upward revision suggests that the late-responding companies added more jobs than the department had expected. It also implies that any corrections submitted by companies were also larger.

By contrast, during the recession, most of the revisions were downward. In 2008, the average revision was 73,000 lower.

And in 2009, some months were much worse: the department initially thought 598,000 jobs were cut in January of that year. That has since been revised to a whopping 821,000.

Some numbers that were initially eye-catching became more ho-hum.

For example, the August 2011 employment report was depressing. With the unemployment rate at 9 percent, the government said the struggling economy had added precisely zero jobs that month.

The zero figure had a political impact: Some Republicans dubbed President Barack Obama " President Zero."

The critics should have waited for the revisions: The department now estimates that 132,000 jobs were added in August 2011. That's still not healthy. But it's a lot better than zero.

April's gain of 165,000 jobs, meanwhile, is a solid increase.

But then it hasn't been revised yet.