Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank Ben Bernanke attends the Treasury Department's Financial Stability Oversight Council in Washington April 25, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Gary Cameron

By Luciana Lopez and Rodrigo Campos

NEW YORK | Wed May 8, 2013 5:02pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wealthy money managers bashed Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's easy money policies at a closely watched annual investment conference and charitable event on Wednesday.

The Sohn Investment Conference, which raises money for pediatric cancer research, gets big name hedge fund managers to share their "best ideas" with other wealthy investors. This year's conference was sprinkled with criticisms of the Fed's $85 billion in monthly purchases of Treasuries and mortgage securities in an attempt to stoke the economy.

"Ben Bernanke is running the most inappropriate monetary policy in the history" of the developed world, said Stanley Druckenmiller, the retired head of Duquesne Capital Management.

The criticisms of Bernanke come as investors have begun to speculate when the U.S. Federal Reserve could slow or stop its monthly bond purchases, a policy designed to keep long-term interest rates low in order to spur spending and job creation.

With economic data mixed recently, analysts say the Fed could keep its ultra-loose stance well through year-end - an unpopular view at the conference, where many of the featured money managers are billionaires themselves.

Bernanke took a drubbing from the start, with the first speaker, Paul Singer, setting the tone.

Singer, founder of the $21 billion Elliott Management hedge fund and a big contributor to Republican political candidates, said the Fed's monetary policies are distorting the prices of long-term bonds and the global recovery.

"Everyone wants a safe haven," said Singer. "There is no such thing in today's markets and that's one of the elements of the distortion."

Singer's criticism of the Fed's bond purchases may not be surprising given his generally conservative political outlook.

But in recent months, other money managers and economists have expressed concern that the Fed, by keeping rates low, is artificially pushing up stock prices and forcing investors into riskier assets like junk bonds and securities backed by student loans as they chase yield.

Junk bond yields have fallen below 5 percent for the first time ever, as investors scrambling for the biggest returns possible have pushed the market into record territory. The yield-to-worst on the Barclays US Corporate High Yield Index closed Tuesday at 4.97 percent, breaking below the 5 percent barrier for the first time in the index's 30-year history.

The Fed's easy money policy has helped boost riskier assets such as equities, with the S&P 500 up 14 percent this year. Both the S&P and Dow Jones Industrials have set a string of all-time highs.

In contrast, the average hedge fund is up only 4.4 percent.

The Fed has also come under fire lately for risking its credibility on inflation. While policymakers have emphasized the employment side of their dual mandate, increases in consumer prices have slowed well below the 2 percent target.

Fed criticism was on full display at the Sohn conference in New York. The mounting criticism from money managers about the impact the Fed's quantitative easy policies have on the markets could give more ammunition to Fed policymakers who want Bernanke to begin scaling back on the bond buys.

Other central banks came in for their share of criticism, too, with fund managers pointing to the way global easing has masked the piles of debt amassing in developed markets, enough to raise fears of insolvency.

Kyle Bass of Hayman Capital got a laugh when he introduced a Japan finance minister index, a nod to the high turnover in that office in recent years.

But he was more serious when he dissected Japan's finances and central bank chief Haruhiko Kuroda's "shock and awe" campaign.

"They're completely insolvent," he said. "It's just a matter of when and not if."

In April, the Bank of Japan said it was likely to purchase over 7 trillion yen ($75 billion) of long-term government bonds a month, an aggressive monetary policy to end years of deflation in the world's third largest economy.

Druckenmiller, however, said the Bank of Japan was doing a better job than the Fed, considering Japan's deflation worries and its long-time bear market.

"I actually think their policy is much more appropriate," he said.

Not all the speakers at the Sohn conference were ready to heap scorn on the Fed. In fact, some money manager said they are placing bets that the Fed's easy money policies will continue to boost segments of the U.S. economy, such as housing, which has come roaring back in some parts of the country.

Steven Eisman, whose claim to fame is shorting the securitized subprime mortgage market in the run-up to the financial crisis, said he is positive on the U.S. housing market.

Eisman, the founder of Emrys Partners, said he likes homebuilders Lennar Corp and Standard Pacific Corp. Inc.. He's also a fan of real estate company Forestar Group Inc.

Eisman is particularly bullish on Ocwen Financial, calling the mortgage servicing firm "completely mispriced" and the "most powerful" play on housing in the entire sector.

But Eisman's love of housing doesn't extend north into Canada. He said his best short idea is to bet against shares of Home Capital Group, a Canadian mortgage lender.

"If housing rolls over, this company is going to have serious problems," he said.

(Additional reporting by Steven C. Johnson and Samuel Forgione; edited by Jennifer Ablan and Leslie Adler)

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By John Wasik

CHICAGO | Fri May 10, 2013 8:25am EDT

CHICAGO (Reuters) - If you're willing to take on more risk, it's a good time to move beyond corporate and government bonds in the incredibly challenging search for yield.

While attention has been on the record-setting stock market - the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above the symbolic 15,000 on Tuesday and kept climbing - bond yields have been heading south. The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury is yielding around 1.8 percent after hitting 2 percent in early March.

An "in-between" portfolio that focuses on yield from non-traditional sources while owning dividend-rich stocks is one approach to find income. This strategy is based on the reality that bond yields probably won't rise much in the next year or so. You'll have to venture into alternative investments if you want to boost your income stream.

I've searched for some of the best exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that offer income and appreciation. The following ETFs focus on four key themes: Global stock dividends, master limited partnerships (MLPs), high-yield bonds and real-estate investment trusts (REITs).

Dividend-paying stocks, for example, can outpace inflation. In January 2009, the S&P 500 Index dividend yield was 3.24 percent while the Consumer Price Index was a negative 0.34 percent, according to dividend.com.

That doesn't always happen. Even so, cash-rich companies are in a better position to raise dividends - something bond payers can't do.

This mix is not risk-free. It may get hit as hard in a stock market sell-off, which is why these funds should comprise no more than 15 percent of your total holdings.

HIGH-DIVIDEND GLOBAL STOCKS

The PowerShares International Dividend Achievers ETF gives you a selection of dividend payers from around the world. If something happens to the torrid U.S. market, you have a little insulation.

The fund, which yields just above two percent, holds brand-name non-U.S. stocks like Vodaphone and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone.

It's posted an annualized return of nearly 14-percent during the three years through May 8, and is up 20 percent for the past year through that date. The trade-off, however, is that the fund is more volatile than the S&P 500.

MORTGAGE REITS

REITs that invest in mortgages have done well since 2008, thanks to low financing rates, although they are not well known. The iShares FTSE NAREIT Mortgage PlusCapped Index invests in major REITs like Annaly Capital Management, which buys mortgage pass-through certificates and obligations.

This specialized REIT borrows money to buy mortgage-backed securities. Like all REITs, it must pass through 90 percent of its income to shareholders.

Currently, the iShares fund is yielding 11 percent. The downside is that it trades like a stock, and its risk is roughly the same as the S&P 500. It's up 24 percent through May 8, and has averaged an annualized gain of 15 percent during the past three years.

MASTER LIMITED PARTNERSHIPS

Until recently, you could only buy these vehicles through brokers, often paying steep commissions. Now that they're being packaged in ETFs, they are worth considering for their high yields, which range from 7 percent to 16 percent.

The Alerian MLP ETF, up 15 percent in the past year through May 8, holds an index of energy partnerships that mostly invested in pipeline companies. With an almost 6-percent yield, the fund probably won't move in lockstep with common stocks, but it's prone to declines if oil prices slide. The ETF is less than two years old, so it's too young to have risk measures.

HIGH-YIELD BONDS

Unlike their government counterparts, "junk" bonds give you the trade-off of lower credit ratings in exchange for higher yields. Rated "B" and lower, these are companies that still need to sell debt, but pose a higher risk of default.

Packaged within an ETF such as the Peritus High-Yield ETF, you can find some diversification from credit risk. Although it is actively managed and has a much higher expense ratio than its peers - 1.35 percent annually versus 0.4 percent for a similar indexed fund - the Peritus fund sports an 8 percent yield.

It is up 13 percent for the year, besting its benchmark by 2 percentage points, which is a significant advantage in the bond world.

As a backstop, keep a close eye on interest rates with all of your bond holdings.

"Be tactical so that you can be ready for the eventual rising interest-rate environment," advises John Zhong, chief executive officer and founder of MyPlanIQ.com, a portfolio service.

(The author is a Reuters columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.)

(Editing by Lauren Young and Bernadette Baum)

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But in the last few months, the nation’s new prime minister, Shinzo Abe, has pushed policy makers and other officials to take bold steps to revive one of the world’s largest economies. Their handiwork was evident on Thursday when the Japanese yen hit 100 to the dollar for the first time in four years.

Normally a weakening exchange rate might be taken as a sign of decline. The yen has fallen nearly 14 percent against the dollar this year, and no currency has fallen more except the Venezuelan bolívar. But in Japan’s case, it is a sign that the policies put in place by Mr. Abe and Haruhiko Kuroda, chairman of the Bank of Japan, are starting to work. A weaker yen makes Japanese exports more competitive around the world.

The most immediate impact of the weaker yen has been the boost in profits of the major exporters. This week, the Toyota Motor Corporation reported net income in the last 12 months jumped threefold, and Sony produced an annual profit for the first time in five years. Both companies forecast further profit increases largely because of the weaker yen.

Perhaps more important, particularly for the citizens of Japan who have suffered from a long period of falling wages and prices, the yen’s move is expected to kindle inflation in the once moribund economy.

Bank of Japan has moved aggressively to reinvigorate the economy and fight deflation. Last month, the central bank announced a decisive break with its earlier policies. Instead of focusing on keeping overnight interest rates close to zero — which seemed to be having little effect in reviving growth — the central bank aimed to double the amount of money in circulation, seeking to produce annual inflation of about 2 percent.

“This is new territory for the Bank of Japan, and the market is responding to that,” said Aroop Chatterjee, foreign exchange strategist at Barclays Capital in New York. “The Bank of Japan announced very strong monetary policy easing at the start of April.”

However, he said the more immediate trigger for the rate to cross Thursday’s threshold was signs of strength in the United States economy.

Akira Amari, Japan’s economic revitalization minister, quickly focused attention away from Japan’s role in weakening its own currency, in a bid to stave off accusations that Japan was manipulating the yen to bolster its exports. Rather, he said the dollar’s strength reflected investors’ hopes for an economic comeback in the United States.

“It’s the dollar that’s in demand because economic recovery in America is gathering steam,” Mr. Amari said at a morning news conference.

The efforts by the Bank of Japan to continue to flood the economy with liquidity is likely to keep downward pressure on the yen in the coming months. The central bank is following an asset purchase program to inflate the economy by aggressively buying longer-term bonds and doubling its government bond holdings in two years.

By mid-morning in Tokyo on Friday, the dollar was trading at 101.09 yen.

Japanese officials say the policy does not overtly pursue a lower yen rate, which could raise tensions with other exporting nations like the United States. But a weaker yen is a welcome development in some ways.

The depreciation of the yen may be a step in the right direction as the authorities try to stimulate some growth. However, Japan still faces many stiff challenges until it breaks out of its period of deflation. It has an aging and shrinking population and cumbersome regulations that make the economy inefficient.

As Mr. Abe has tried to put a new focus on reviving the economy, he has also fought with the central bank’s former leaders over setting the 2 percent inflation goal. Mr. Abe’s pressure in the end led to the resignation of the bank’s previous governor, the moderate Masaaki Shirakawa. His departure led to the appointment of Mr. Kuroda, who shares Mr. Abe’s economic philosophy.

Hiroko Tabuchi reported from Tokyo and Graham Bowley from New York.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: May 10, 2013

A previous version of this article reversed the name of Japan’s economic revitalization minister. He is Akira Amari, not Amari Akira.

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Chinese director Zhang Yimou waves as he poses for the media during a news conference for his opening film ''Under the Hawthorn Tree'' at the 15th Pusan International Film Festival in Busan, about 420 km (261 miles) southeast of Seoul, in this October 7, 2010 file photo.

Credit: Reuters/Jo Yong-Hak/Files

BEIJING | Thu May 9, 2013 12:00am EDT

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese authorities have begun investigating reports that Zhang Yimou, one of China's best-known movie directors, has seven children in violation of strict family planning rules, which could result in a fine of 160 million yuan ($26.05 million), state media said on Thursday.

Online reports have surfaced that Zhang, who dazzled the world in 2008 with his Beijing Olympic ceremonies, "has at least seven children and will face a 160 million yuan fine," said the website of the People's Daily, the Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece.

An unnamed official at the Wuxi Municipal Population and Family Planning Commission said "based on the current policies and regulations, an investigation is currently being carried out", according to the report.

It is unclear where Zhang's children were born, the report said, citing a worker at the Jiangsu Province Population and Family Planning Commission.

Both the Wuxi and Jiangsu Population and Family Planning Commission could not be reached for comment.

Zhang, 61, once the bad-boy of Chinese cinema whose movies were sometimes banned at home while popular overseas, has since become a darling of the Communist Party, despite long being a subject of tabloid gossip for alleged trysts with his actresses.

Zhang's newest project, a film to depict wartime Nanjing under Japanese occupation starred Hollywood actor Christian Bale in a leading role.

There are signs that China may loosen the one-child policy, introduced in the late 1970s to prevent population growth spiraling out of control. The policy has long been opposed by human rights and religious groups but is also now regarded by many experts as outdated and harmful to the economy.

Last December, authorities in southern Guangdong said they were investigating a family for having given birth to octuplets through in-vitro fertilization, a case that sparked intense public debate about China's one-child policy and how wealthy families were able to circumvent the rules.

The one-child policy was meant to last only 30 years and there are now numerous exceptions to it. But it still applies to about 63 percent of the population. ($1 = 6.1410 Chinese yuan)

(Reporting by Sui-Lee Wee, Additional reporting by Sally Huang; Editing by Michael Perry)

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Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney (L) speaks to the President of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi as they pose for a group photograph at the G7 Finance Ministers meeting in Aylesbury, southern England May 10, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Alastair Grant/Pool

By David Milliken

AYLESBURY, England | Sat May 11, 2013 9:02am EDT

AYLESBURY, England (Reuters) - Major central banks did not face calls to do more to boost the world economy when Group of Seven finance officials met on Saturday, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said.

Before the meeting Britain's finance minister, George Osborne, said ministers would "consider what more monetary activism can do to support the recovery" - something that he is keen for the Bank of England to do.

But Draghi said the ECB, which cut interest rates to a record low last week, did not come under pressure to take further steps.

"There wasn't any call to do more," he told reporters after the meeting. "It is quite clear that all central banks have done a lot, each one within its own mandate. So (the meeting) was just taking note of this ... All of us have really been active."

The ECB is also looking at whether it can do more to promote small business lending in the euro zone via asset-backed securities (ABS), but Draghi said the central bank was better placed to assist other European institutions rather than take a leading role itself.

ABS allow banks to move some credit risk off their balance sheets by packaging loans up and selling them on to other investors. Credit markets were paralyzed during the financial crisis when such securities became toxic due to the default of housing loans that underpinned them.

"What is the role of the ECB in this? I think it is mostly catalytic, because the ECB works with the European Investment Bank and the (European) Commission, and I think it will be very much up to these actors to act, rather than the ECB," Draghi said.

He played down suggestions that the ECB was considering a program similar to the Bank of England's Funding for Lending Scheme, noting that the ECB already allowed banks to use small business loans as collateral in its financing operations.

Germany Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, who was at the G7 meeting held 40 miles outside London, has signaled his opposition to the ECB buying buy asset-backed securities, telling his party it would amount to "covert state financing," German magazine Spiegel reported on Saturday.

(Editing by Mike Peacock)

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NEW YORK | Wed May 8, 2013 12:58pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A second New York City pension fund has sold its holdings in firearm manufacturers in response to last year's school shooting in Connecticut, the city's top financial officer said on Wednesday.

The $45.7 billion New York City Employees' Retirement System divested its $16.3 million holdings in Alliant Techsystems Inc, Olin Corp, Sturm Ruger & Co, Sm & Wesson Holding Corp and Forjas Taurus SA, Comptroller John Liu said in statement.

The move follows a similar action by the city's teachers retirement system, which sold its gun holdings in February. And in January, CalSTRS, the California State Teachers' Retirement System, sold its investments in manufacturers of firearms and high-capacity ammunition clips.

"Our city's employees do not want their pension dollars supporting companies whose products tear apart families and shatter communities," Liu said.

U.S. teachers and public employees retirement funds began reviewing their investments in firearms makers after 20 children and six adults were shot dead at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut in December.

New York state's $150 billion public pension fund said in January that it will stop buying shares of publicly traded firearm manufacturers, including Sturm Ruger.

(Reporting by Edward Krudy; Editing by Kenneth Barry and Bernadette Baum)

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Women of the Muslim Community arrive to attend the official inauguration of Strasbourg Grand Mosque in Strasbourg, September 27, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Vincent Kessler

By Tom Heneghan, Religion Editor

PARIS | Thu May 9, 2013 3:18pm EDT

PARIS (Reuters) - France's Muslim leaders have agreed to end almost 1,400 years of Islamic tradition and use modern astronomy to determine the start of the holy month of Ramadan and other Islamic holidays.

The French Muslim Council (CFCM) voted on Thursday to start using astronomical calculations to set the date rather than relying on the naked eye to sight the new crescent moon.

Ramadan traditionally begins the morning after the sighting, which has in the past been delayed by a day or even two by weather.

Council President Mohammad Moussaoui said the old method played havoc with French Muslims' schedules for work, school and festivities. France's five million Muslims are the largest Islamic minority in Europe.

"Now all this will be simplified," he said, and promptly announced the Ramadan fast would begin on July 9 this year.

Turkey began using scientific calculations to set the start of Ramadan decades ago. Muslims in Germany, who are mostly of Turkish origin, and those in Bosnia also use this method.

Muslim minorities elsewhere in Europe often start Ramadan according to its beginning in their countries of origin, or in Saudi Arabia. That can lead to different ethnic groups starting it on different days, even in the same country.

"This is historic. Now all Muslims in France can start Ramadan on the same day," said Lyon Muslim leader Azzedine Gaci.

Muslim scientists have been arguing for using astronomy to determine Islamic dates for years, especially now that globalised communications make it increasingly awkward for different countries to start Ramadan on different days.

Complicating the calculations, the Islamic lunar calendar is 10 to 11 days shorter than the Gregorian calendar developed in Europe, so the dates for Ramadan fall a week and a half earlier as each year in the western calendar passes.

Moussaoui said French Muslims were not planning to ask for their holidays to be included in the national calendar.

"It would be more important for us that they are taken into consideration, that's all," he said.

(Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)

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Marijuana plants are displayed for sale at Canna Pi medical marijuana dispensary in Seattle, Washington, November 27, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Anthony Bolante

By Jonathan Kaminsky

OLYMPIA, Washington | Fri May 10, 2013 7:48pm EDT

OLYMPIA, Washington (Reuters) - City bus drivers in Seattle are under orders to handle small amounts of marijuana left behind by passengers as normal lost-and-found items that can be recovered by their rightful owners, now that pot is legal under state law, a transit official said on Friday.

"We collect a lot of things on Metro Transit buses, from umbrellas to lunch sacks to briefcases," said Jeff Switzer, a spokesman for the King County Department of Transportation, Metro Transit Division, which serves Seattle and surrounding suburbs. "This is one more thing we'll be handling in this fashion."

Washington state and Colorado voters passed ballot initiatives in November making the possession and use of small amounts of marijuana by adults legal for recreational purposes for the first time ever under state law.

The U.S. government still classifies cannabis as an illegal narcotic, and federal officials have said they are studying how to respond to the newly enacted marijuana legalization in Washington and Colorado.

Nearly 20 states, including those two, have previously declared marijuana legal for medical purposes.

Police in Seattle, Washington's largest city, already have shown a newfound tolerance for pot, declining to make arrests for marijuana use in public -- technically still outlawed in the state -- at a number of events where pot smokers have celebrated the drug's new status.

"The voters voted, and this is the world we're living in now," Switzer said.

The transit directive, outlined in a memo circulated on Wednesday, informs drivers they can call for a supervisor to take possession of any waylaid weed on their buses if they feel uncomfortable holding onto the pot until they can finish their routes and drop it off at the lost-and-found center.

If they find more than an ounce of marijuana - the maximum amount recreational users 21 and older are now legally permitted to possess under state law - they are instructed to contact the police. If they are uncertain of the quantity, the memo instructs, they are to contact a supervisor.

The memo also spells out specific procedures for reuniting a stash of marijuana with the person who wants it back.

In order to successfully reclaim missing pot, a transit rider will have to say when it was lost it, on what bus route, and will have to accurately describe the appearance of the drug and its container, under the new King County Metro rules.

Switzer said he was not certain whether any marijuana has already been recovered on any of the more than 200 Metro bus routes since the new rule took effect on Wednesday.

The policy change comes days after Governor Jay Inslee, a Democrat, signed into law a measure requiring personnel quantities of marijuana left behind in stores with pharmacies in them to be destroyed or rendered unusable.

That legislation was in response to concerns that keeping marijuana on the premises of a conventional drug store would pose too flagrant a violation of federal law and hence put a pharmacy's licensing in jeopardy.

(Editing by Alex Dobuzinskis and Steve Gorman)

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Pacific Investment Management (PIMCO) founder and co-chief investment officer Bill Gross plays golf on the first hole at Pebble Beach Golf Links before the start of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in Pebble Beach, California, February 8, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Robert Galbraith

By Jennifer Ablan and Dan Burns

NEW YORK | Fri May 10, 2013 4:56pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Circle the date, market mavens: April 29, 2013. AKA, the day the bond bull died. Age 31 years, 7 months.

That, at least, is the call from Bill Gross, who is known on Wall Street as "the Bond King."

Gross, the manager of the world's largest bond fund, the Pimco Total Return Fund, with $289 billion in fixed-income assets, set the Wall Street Twittersphere alight early Friday with this 62-character missive: "The secular 30-yr bull market in bonds likely ended 4/29/2013."

Moreover, Gross says it's over for more than just Treasuries, the cornerstone of the $38 trillion U.S. bond market. The upward run is finished for "all bonds," he said in a follow-up email to Reuters, including low-quality corporate debt, or junk bonds, whose yields fell below 5 percent this week for the first time.

The "price peak refers not to Treasuries but to all bonds, including a weighted amount of high-yield debt. Thus the 4/29 date will not exactly correspond to a bottom in 10-year Treasury yields, for instance," Gross said.

He said his call is a "gut feeling" that the bull market in fixed income ended on April 29.

The date was a Monday, and the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves in the opposite direction to the note's price, dropped to a fraction above 1.65 percent, right around its low of the year. Since then, Treasuries have had a rotten start to May, with yields rising 0.22 of a percentage point, briefly topping 1.92 percent on Friday.

April 29 was also the day before U.S. Federal Reserve policy makers convened their latest two-day meeting, which ended with a statement signaling the central bank stood ready to increase the pace of its unconventional monetary policy, a bond-buying program called quantitative easing, if needed to boost the sluggish economy.

While Gross's commentary is widely followed by investors, not all of his calls have been spot on. In 2011, he had one of his worst years ever by betting that yields would rise with an inflation threat that never materialized, thus selling all of his holdings in Treasuries.

Last summer, he mused that the "cult of equities" was dying. The benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 Index is up 18.8 percent since then.

To be fair, Gross' declaration is more a culmination than a revelation. He has been growing ever more bearish on the prospect for bonds since the Fed took short-term interest rates essentially to zero at the end of 2008 and the central bank then began hounding investors out of safe assets through its three QE programs, each more aggressive than the one before.

Gross, a 69-year-old former Navy officer and one-time professional card player, has been a bond market fixture for 42 years. He co-founded the Pacific Investment Management Co. in 1971, only to endure a decade-long bear market in bonds that took the yield on the 10-year Treasury to a peak of around 15.8 percent on September 30, 1981. The yield on two-year notes had peaked earlier that month at an even higher level: 16.95 percent.

Since then, though, the bond market's been a gravy train.

According to Bank of America/Merrill Lynch Fixed Income Index data, a broad basket of U.S. fixed income securities, including Treasuries, corporate bonds and mortgage-backed securities, has delivered a total return of 1,420.5 percent since the beginning of October 1981. That was right after yields hit their highs, and the campaign to beat back inflation led by Paul Volcker, then the Fed chief, finally began paying off.

While that's less than half the total return on stocks - the S&P 500 generated a total return, including reinvested dividends, of 3,144 percent over the same run - bond investors have enjoyed three decades of consistent gains with far less volatility.

Gross launched the Total Return Fund in May 1987, and it has delivered a total return of 694.5 percent since inception, outperforming the 506 percent return on U.S. bonds more broadly in the same period.

Gross cautioned that his call for a top in the market does not mean the bottom will fall out imminently.

"A bear market is not in the cards until growth and inflation threaten current Fed policies," Gross said in his email to Reuters.

The economy has been limping along since the recession ended, generating gross domestic product growth of better than 3 percent in just three of the past 15 quarters. Inflation, meanwhile, has been running just over 1 percent, roughly half of the Fed's target level.

"We expect prices to stop going up but not to start going down," Gross said.

In fact, Gross just increased his Treasury holdings in the Total Return Fund to 39 percent from 33 percent in March. Gross has said that he likes bonds within the five-year and shorter maturities as they will "do best based on continuing policy rate."

And bonds also continue to attract investor cash, even with yields near record lows. U.S. mutual funds investing in taxable bonds took in a record $8.88 billion in the latest week, according to fund tracking firm Lipper, a unit of Thomson Reuters.

(Reporting By Jennifer Ablan and Dan Burns; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Leslie Adler)

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Students take their seats for the diploma ceremony at the John F. Kennedy School of Government during the 361st Commencement Exercises at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts May 24, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Brian Snyder

By Elvina Nawaguna

WASHINGTON | Thu May 9, 2013 3:31pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Low-income students are increasingly bypassed when colleges offer applicants financial aid, as schools compete for wealthier students who can afford rising tuition and fees, according to a public policy institute's analysis of U.S. Department of Education data.

The study by The New America Foundation said that colleges, in their quest to advance their U.S. News & World Report rankings, are directing more financial aid to high-achieving applicants in a bid to elevate the profile of their student population.

"A lot of them (colleges) go for the same students from the rich suburban schools," said Stephen Burd, the foundation's education policy analyst who studied the data.

The U.S. News rankings of colleges and universities have become a popular gauge of the quality of an undergraduate and graduate institution's education and the prestige of its degrees.

As part of their strategy to compete for the best students, colleges use merit-based aid, which does not take into account financial need. Under this strategy, institutions may, for instance, give four $5,000 awards to lure four wealthy students rather than award $20,000 to one needy student, the organization said.

While the federal government issues guidelines on distribution of its grants, it doesn't regulate aid from an institution's coffers. Colleges have fiercely fought efforts by lawmakers to force greater transparency in financial aid practices.

Colleges, many under tighter budgets as they offer more amenities and hire the best professors, are under pressure to raise revenues and are using tuition prices to do so.

The cost of attending a four-year public institution has gone up by 5.2 percent each year in the last decade, more than the inflation rate, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, forcing more students to take out loans to pay for tuition and fees and giving them a heavy debt burden when they graduate.

The annual cost for tuition, room, board and fees at many private colleges is between $30,000 and $45,000 a year.

NET COST OF COLLEGE

The New America Foundation analyzed net price data - the amount students paid after all grant aid was exhausted - to conclude that hundreds of colleges expect the neediest students to pay an amount equal to or even greater than their families' yearly earnings.

For instance, of the 479 private, nonprofit colleges examined, 89 percent charged students with family incomes of $30,000 or less more than $10,000 in net prices and 22 percent expected students to pay about $20,000 or more each year.

Needy students then rely more heavily on student loans, either drop out or take on full-time jobs, which diminishes their chances of completing school, the study said.

"I fear that we're going to have more social stratification and there are going to be fewer opportunities for upward mobility," Burd said.

While the practice is more predominant in private colleges, Burd said, it is increasing in public colleges, many of which are receiving less money from cash-strapped state governments.

But some schools, such as private Amherst College and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, have enrolled more lower-income students without jeopardizing their prestigious status.

There is nothing illegal about this approach to doling out aid, Burd said, but it undermines the strides made in creating opportunities for the nation's needy.

Burd proposed a carrot-stick solution in which institutions that admit more low-income students receive more federal aid and those that enroll fewer low-income students but charge them higher net prices would be required to match a share of the Pell Grant aid they receive.

Pell is a federal program granting aid to bright low-income college students.

"We've wanted as a country for the last 50 years or so to try to help lower-income students move themselves up the ladder of opportunity, and higher education has always been that kind of ladder. And so the idea that we may be closing these gates is very alarming," he said.

(Editing by Marilyn Thompson and Philip Barbara)

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Tim Lambesis, lead singer for the heavy metal band As I Lay Dying, looks on during his arraignment in San Diego North County court in Vista, California May 9, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Lenny Ignelzi/Pool

By Marty Graham

VISTA, California | Thu May 9, 2013 10:24pm EDT

VISTA, California (Reuters) - Heavy metal singer Tim Lambesis, the frontman for Christian rock band As I Lay Dying, pleaded not guilty on Thursday to a charge of soliciting the murder of his estranged wife.

North San Diego County Superior Court Judge Martin Staven set bail for Lambesis at $3 million. He ordered Lambesis to surrender his passport, stay away from his wife Meggan and their three children and remain in San Diego county except to meet with his attorney.

If convicted, Lambesis faces up to nine years in prison.

Lambesis, 32, was arrested at a bookstore in Oceanside, north of San Diego, on Tuesday after he tried to hire an undercover sheriff's deputy to kill Meggan Lambesis, according to Deputy District Attorney Claudia Grasso. Meggan Lambesis had filed for divorce in September after eight years of marriage, according to court records.

The singer gave the man he knew as 'Red' an envelope containing $1,000 in cash, photos of his wife, her address and codes to get through the security gates of her home, and a list of dates that would work well because he would have their three adopted children with him, Grasso said.

"The children would be his alibi," Grasso said at a news conference after the hearing, which was attended by more than 40 of Lambesis' friends, family and fans.

Lambesis' attorney, Anthony Salerno, said his client was set up. "If I had to hang a tag on it, I'd call it a scumbag snitch set-up," Salerno said. "Law enforcement was fed something by someone who effectively orchestrated the whole thing ... He did not intend to harm anybody."

Lambesis sent his wife an email in August while he was on tour, telling her he no longer loved her or believed in God, Grasso said. His wife also found he was having an affair and "there had been a string of other women," she said.

The prosecutor said Lambesis asked an acquaintance from his gym if he could find someone to kill his wife.

The gym friend arranged for him to meet with an undercover Sheriff's Department detective on Tuesday, to whom Lambesis gave the envelope of cash and information, Grasso said.

Salerno said he believed Lambesis did not want to harm his wife and had never done so in the past, noting the singer has no history of domestic violence or any arrests.

"Tim was mostly disappointed that it was going the way it was, he didn't feel it was good for his children," Salerno said. "The rest, I think will come out, that he was set up."

He also told the court that the restrictions on Lambesis to stay in San Diego County will affect the band's ability to tour and earn a living.

"The band has a tour scheduled," Salerno told the judge. "There's many people who depend on him. If he can't go that would be to the detriment of many, many people."

Lambesis is due to return to court for a preliminary hearing on July 10.

(Editing by Tim Gaynor and Mohammad Zargham)

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A foreclosed home is shown in Stockton, California May 13, 2008.

Credit: Reuters/Robert Galbraith

NEW YORK | Thu May 9, 2013 12:07am EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Foreclosure activity fell in April to its lowest level in more than six years, the latest sign the recovery in the housing market is on track, a report from RealtyTrac showed on Thursday.

Foreclosure activity - which includes default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions - was seen on 144,790 properties last month, down 5 percent from March, and down 23 percent from a year earlier. It was the lowest level since February 2007.

The housing market has been a bright spot for the economy since the sector turned a corner last year, with prices rising, inventory tightening and low interest rates drawing in buyers.

There were also signs that some foreclosures that had been deferred were working their way through the process in states that use the court system to handle foreclosures, known as judicial states. There are 26 judicial or quasi-judicial foreclosure states, according to RealtyTrac.

"Foreclosure starts have been increasing for several months in many of the judicial states, and now that increased volume is showing up in the second stage of the process: the public foreclosure auction," said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac.

Scheduled foreclosure auctions in judicial states rose 22 percent in April to their highest level since October 2010. Scheduled auctions in non-judicial states fell 7 percent.

Judicial states have seen the time it takes to foreclose increase compared to their counterparts, partly due to the intensive process and the large volume of cases the courts have to handle.

Overall, fewer properties started the foreclosure process, falling 4 percent to 70,133, while lenders repossessed 34,997 homes, a drop of 20 percent.

Nevada had the highest foreclosure rate for a second month in a row, with a foreclosure filing on one in every 360 homes. That is more than twice the national average of one in every 905 homes.

As of the beginning of May, 11.3 million homeowners were seriously underwater, meaning the mortgage was worth at least 25 percent more than the home. That accounts for 26 percent of mortgages, though it was down from 12.8 million homeowners in May last year.

(Reporting by Leah Schnurr; Editing by Nick Zieminski)

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Marijuana plants are displayed for sale at Canna Pi medical marijuana dispensary in Seattle, Washington, November 27, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Anthony Bolante

By Jonathan Kaminsky

OLYMPIA, Washington | Fri May 10, 2013 7:48pm EDT

OLYMPIA, Washington (Reuters) - City bus drivers in Seattle are under orders to handle small amounts of marijuana left behind by passengers as normal lost-and-found items that can be recovered by their rightful owners, now that pot is legal under state law, a transit official said on Friday.

"We collect a lot of things on Metro Transit buses, from umbrellas to lunch sacks to briefcases," said Jeff Switzer, a spokesman for the King County Department of Transportation, Metro Transit Division, which serves Seattle and surrounding suburbs. "This is one more thing we'll be handling in this fashion."

Washington state and Colorado voters passed ballot initiatives in November making the possession and use of small amounts of marijuana by adults legal for recreational purposes for the first time ever under state law.

The U.S. government still classifies cannabis as an illegal narcotic, and federal officials have said they are studying how to respond to the newly enacted marijuana legalization in Washington and Colorado.

Nearly 20 states, including those two, have previously declared marijuana legal for medical purposes.

Police in Seattle, Washington's largest city, already have shown a newfound tolerance for pot, declining to make arrests for marijuana use in public -- technically still outlawed in the state -- at a number of events where pot smokers have celebrated the drug's new status.

"The voters voted, and this is the world we're living in now," Switzer said.

The transit directive, outlined in a memo circulated on Wednesday, informs drivers they can call for a supervisor to take possession of any waylaid weed on their buses if they feel uncomfortable holding onto the pot until they can finish their routes and drop it off at the lost-and-found center.

If they find more than an ounce of marijuana - the maximum amount recreational users 21 and older are now legally permitted to possess under state law - they are instructed to contact the police. If they are uncertain of the quantity, the memo instructs, they are to contact a supervisor.

The memo also spells out specific procedures for reuniting a stash of marijuana with the person who wants it back.

In order to successfully reclaim missing pot, a transit rider will have to say when it was lost it, on what bus route, and will have to accurately describe the appearance of the drug and its container, under the new King County Metro rules.

Switzer said he was not certain whether any marijuana has already been recovered on any of the more than 200 Metro bus routes since the new rule took effect on Wednesday.

The policy change comes days after Governor Jay Inslee, a Democrat, signed into law a measure requiring personnel quantities of marijuana left behind in stores with pharmacies in them to be destroyed or rendered unusable.

That legislation was in response to concerns that keeping marijuana on the premises of a conventional drug store would pose too flagrant a violation of federal law and hence put a pharmacy's licensing in jeopardy.

(Editing by Alex Dobuzinskis and Steve Gorman)

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Miss New York Mallory Hytes Hagan, 23, reacts after being crowned Miss America 2013 during the Miss America Pageant in Las Vegas January 12, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Steve Marcus

By Lisa Barron

JERSEY CITY, New Jersey | Thu May 9, 2013 5:11pm EDT

JERSEY CITY, New Jersey (Reuters) - The winner of this fall's Miss America pageant will take her victory walk to a different tune now that the show's iconic theme song, which begins "There she is, Miss America," has been silenced by a lawsuit.

Organizers said on Thursday that a replacement song has not yet been selected for the September 15 pageant in Atlantic City, New Jersey, which will be broadcast live by ABC television.

Since 1955, the song "Miss America" has been part of the beauty pageant. But it is being dropped this year after the widow of songwriter Bernie Wayne filed a federal lawsuit in April 2012 accusing the pageant of using it without a proper license in both 2011 and 2012.

Wayne wrote "Miss America" while sitting in a barber's chair in New York City, he told the Press of Atlantic City in 1990. Born in Paterson, New Jersey, the song writer also wrote the 1950s hit "Blue Velvet". He died in 1993 in California.

The Miss America Organization's interim president, Sharon Pearce, said on Thursday that moving this year's pageant back to New Jersey after eight years in Las Vegas "will mark the return of a great American tradition that began in Atlantic City in 1921."

(Editing by Barbara Goldberg and Leslie Gevirtz)

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William Ackman, CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, speaks at the Partner Connect 2013 conference, sponsored by Thomson Reuters, in Boston April 5, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Brian Snyder

NEW YORK | Wed May 8, 2013 2:36pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - William Ackman, chief executive of hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management, said on Wednesday that the intrinsic value of consumer goods company Procter & Gamble's stock could reach $125 within two years.

Ackman, whose $12 billion hedge fund has taken a roughly $2 billion stake in the firm, extolled Procter & Gamble's strong emerging market presence, which accounts for 40 percent of its sales. He also said it should be able to grow at 5 percent a year, calling it one of the "great businesses of the world."

Ackman, known for his bets against bond insurer MBIA and, most recently, nutritional products company Herbalife, said the P&G stock price could be trading at 20 times estimated earnings per share by June 2015, which would translate into a $120 per share.

When adding in an estimated $5 in dividends, the intrinsic value of the stock would be $125.

(Reporting By Steven C. Johnson; Editing by Sandra Maler)

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Pope Francis offers flowers to a statue of Our Lady of Lujan during his Wednesday general audience in St Peter's Square at the Vatican May 8, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Stefano Rellandini

By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY | Wed May 8, 2013 8:50am EDT

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis said on Wednesday that clergy who were "careerists" or "social climbers" were doing serious damage to the Catholic Church, his latest utterance aimed at instilling a sense of frugality and service in the Vatican and beyond.

Francis, 76, the former Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, made the comments while addressing a gathering of superiors general of orders of nuns from around the world.

"Men and women of the Church who are careerists, social climbers, who use the people, the Church, brothers and sisters - those they should serve - as a springboard for their own ambitions and personal interests do great damage to the Church," he said.

"We learn poverty from the humble, the poor, the sick," he added, urging clergy to work with those on the margins of society and shun the "idols of materialism" that cloud the true meaning of life.

"We have no use for theoretical poverty," Francis said, departing from his prepared text.

Since his election on March 13, Francis has made it clear through his words and example that he wants clergy to live simpler lives, to serve the poor and shun temptations of power.

He has decided not to live in the spacious, luxurious papal apartments in the Vatican's Apostolic Palace used by his predecessors, opting instead for a small suite in a guest house, where he shares meals with other residents.

In his address, Francis appeared to be sending a message not only to priests, nuns and bishops around the world who serve the 1.2 billion-member Church, but also to bureaucrats in the Vatican itself.

Francis has inherited a Vatican rocked by a scandal in which documents leaked to the media spoke of alleged corruption in its administration and depicted prelates as fighting among themselves to advance their careers.

Last month he set up an advisory board of eight cardinals from around the world to help him reform the Vatican administration, known as the Curia.

They will help him put into place changes in an administration which has been held responsible for some of the mishaps and scandals that plagued the eight-year reign of Pope Benedict before he resigned in February.

Benedict left a secret report for Francis on the problems in the administration, which came to light when sensitive documents were stolen from the pope's desk and leaked by his butler in what became known as the "Vatileaks" scandal.

Before the conclave that elected Francis, cardinals called for changes to the Curia to make it a model of good governance, including introducing term limits on Vatican bureaucrats.

Anger at the mostly Italian prelates who run the Curia was one of the reasons that cardinals chose the first non-European pope for 1,300 years and quashed the chances of one of the front-runners, Milan Archbishop Angelo Scola.

(Reporting By Philip Pullella; editing by Mike Collett-White)

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Producer Kathleen Kennedy arrives for the premiere of the movie ''The Adventures of Tintin'' in New York December 11, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Carlo Allegri

LOS ANGELES | Fri May 10, 2013 7:49pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Filming of the new "Star Wars" movie will take place in England, returning the franchise to its British roots, Disney's Lucasfilm said on Friday.

"We've devoted serious time and attention to revisiting the origins of 'Star Wars' as inspiration for our process on the new movie, and I'm thrilled that returning to the UK for production and utilizing the incredible talent there can be a part of that," Kathleen Kennedy, Lucasfilm president, said in a statement.

The six previous "Star Wars" films were all partly filmed in the UK at famed studios including Pinewood, Elstree and Shepperton.

Disney announced three new "Star Wars" films in October 2012, when it purchased George Lucas' Lucasfilm company for $4.05 billion.

The news was welcomed by the British finance minister, George Osborne, who tweeted on Friday: "Great news for our creative industries. May the force be with us."

"Star Wars: Episode VII" will be made by director J.J. Abrams, and will further boost the British film industry that has been regenerated by the popular James Bond and Harry Potter film franchises.

The "Star Wars" franchise has grossed more than $4.4 billion at the worldwide box office since the first film was released in 1977.

"Star Wars: Episode VII' is scheduled to be released in 2015.

(Reporting By Piya Sinha-Roy, Editing by Jill Serjeant and Peter Cooney)

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Very sad video but inspired most of the viewers all over the world. Can you be this good or just watch it and only think about you and you only?

Jamie Foxx circling role of major villain for 'The Amazing Spider-Man 2'

In a conceivably shocking development*, Jamie Foxx is in preliminary negotiations to take on the role of the villain Electro in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, EW has confirmed. “Dressed up as Electro for Halloween last night,” Foxx tweeted out this afternoon. “Costume fits well.” (*Apologies for the pun.) Variety first broke the news.

In the Marvel comics, Maxwell “Max” Dillon is an engineer who gains the ability to control electricity after he’s struck by lightning, and becomes the supervillain Electro. The character hasn’t traditionally been African American, though snagging the Oscar-winning Foxx for the role would be in keeping with other recent color-blind casting for super hero films, like Laurence Fishburne as Perry White in Man of Steel, and Idris Elba as Heimdall in Thor. (In Marvel’s alternate “Ultimate” universe, Spidey himself is now a mixed-race kid named Miles Morales.)

Foxx would face off against Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone, who are returning to the second film along with director Marc Webb. Shailene Woodley still in talks to join the franchise as Peter Parker’s love interest Mary Jane Watson. The film is set to swing into theaters on May 2, 2014.

Variety is reporting the news, saying that Foxx has begun preliminary talks with Sony about taking on the role. The actor and studio have a fledgling relationship due to Sony distributing Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained internationally ( it stars Foxx); the actor will also star in Sony’s upcoming action flick White House Down, in which he play a U.S. president being protect by Channing Tatum’s secret service character.

For those who don’t know, Electro (real name Max Dillon) is a Spider-Man villain  dating back to 1964. He started as an electrical engineer who gained the powers of a human electrical capacitor due to a freak lighting strike. For the Amazing Spider-Man universe, however, we will probably see the origin story of Electro from the Ultimate Spider-Man continuity, in which his powers result from the sort of bioengineering that created The Lizard in the first film.
Electro Amazing Spider-Man 2

Of course, the big issue you will likely hear echoed across the Internet (ad nauseam) is that Electro is a white character – and Foxx is black. On the heels of the news that black UK actor Idris Elba could play James Bond, the issue of “trading races” when it comes to depictions of film characters has gotten pretty volatile. We’re not going to discuss it here, though; I’m sure the Interwebs at large will do that for us.

Amazing Spider-Man certainly left the door wide open for a sequel, with many questions about Peter Parker’s (Andrew Garfield) past, and the machinations of Norman Osborn still waiting to be answered. Presumably, the story of Max Dillon will be factored into the larger mythos the rebooted franchise has been building – but we’ll have to wait and see the finer points of Alex Kurtzman and Robert Orci’s (Star Trek Into Darkness) revision of James Vanderbilt’s (Zodiac) script to know how, exactly, the puzzle fits together.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 will be in theaters on May 2, 2014.



Source:
Image Credit: Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic.com
http://insidemovies.ew.com/2012/11/01/jamie-foxx-electro-amazing-spider-man-2/
http://screenrant.com/amazing-spiderman-2-jamie-foxx-electro/

More and more sellers and buyers are using home inspection services to check out a house before listing and/or before buying. This is a wise decision. Few people can inspect a house having background in all the facets of a house from the roof to the foundation. Home inspectors are trained to know about the whole home.

Regarding foundations, the inspector may see cracks. He may see cracks and settlement; he may see drywall cracks, racked doors or windows, sloping floors, tipping chimneys, or other tell tale signs of foundation issues. What do you do?

This depends on who "you" are. As a seller with this information, many states require revealing all negative information regarding a house you want to sell. You probably will find the best way to lose a prospect is to tell them of a foundation problem. To most buyers, that's major and they can't find the door fast enough. Even if you have lived in your home for many years and it's never been a problem, it's bad news to the buyer.

The more you know about the problem--its magnitude and its repair--you have a fighting chance to convince the buyer that, with proper repairs, the house will serve them very well. Without that, you may be at the mercy of a merciless market and accept a "lowball" price or you can fix the problem. Usually foundation repair comes at a lesser cost than the mark down of a lowball offer. The other option is to have a repair quote ready to negotiate with the prospect. Should that work and the buyers want the foundation repaired, they will often pay the long price and, with some of the proceeds, escrow the amount of the repairs until the work is done. There are many options.

Now if the "you" are the buyer, the view is different. How much do you like the house? If it's a "sort of" interest, just go down the road. It's not worth the time and there are a lot more houses to look at in this economy. But if it hits the spot, you need to start negotiating. You know that foundations can be repaired. Perhaps you get a price from a reputable installer of helical piers. Armed with that and any other blemishes of significance, you can demand the home be fixed before you buy. Or you can negotiate a lower price to allow for the repairs (and some extra as a buffer). You can pay the agreed upon price, assuming repairs are being made, but escrow the money for the repairs until the house is in shape.

Today's real estate market is very interesting and challenging. Armed with more knowledge, with an aggressive real estate agent, and with your strong efforts, you can realize your goals. You'll be able to recognize value, faults, and benefits of any potential house, which will determine your buying strategy. Whether you're a buyer or a seller, good luck and be smart!

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