Bernanke speaks, stock rally fades
Bernanke speaks, stock rally fades
NEW YORK (AP) — Investors didn’t hear what they wanted from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.
An early rally in stocks faded in the afternoon Thursday after Bernanke signaled no immediate further steps from the Fed to stoke economic growth in the United States, which has shown signs of faltering.
A report that Americans cut back sharply on their credit card purchases in April, suggesting consumers were losing confidence in the economy, also took some steam out of the market.
Bank stocks also lost ground late in the day after the Fed said it wants U.S. banks to set aside more money to cushion against unexpected losses, a key step in preventing another financial crisis.
The Dow Jones industrial average had been up as much as 140 points but closed up 46.17 points, or 0.3 percent, at 12,460.96.
“The market is addicted to easy money, and Bernanke has the job of not pulling the trigger unless the situation needs stabilizing,” said Doug Roberts, chief investment strategist at the investment company Channel Capital Research.
Bernanke told a joint economic committee in Congress that the Fed was ready to act if the economy needs it, but he did not spell out any additional steps on the way.
Lauryn Hill faces
federal tax case
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Eight-time Grammy winner Lauryn Hill has been charged with failing to file income tax returns for several years with the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. attorney’s office in New Jersey announced Thursday.
Hill earned more than $1.6 million during 2005, 2006 and 2007, the three years that she failed to file returns, federal prosecutors said. Hill’s primary source of income is royalties from the recording and film industries, prosecutors said. She also owns and operates four corporations: Creations Music Inc., Boogie Tours Inc., L.H. Productions 2001 Inc. and Studio 22 Inc., according to court papers.
The 37-year-old Hill got her start with The Fugees and began her solo career in 1998 with the critically acclaimed album “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.” The album sold 8 million copies.
She then largely disappeared from public view to raise her six children, five of whom she had with Rohan Marley, the son of famed reggae singer Bob Marley. Hill lives in South Orange, a suburb just west of Newark, and attended Columbia High School in Maplewood.
She is scheduled to appear before a federal magistrate on June 29. She could face a maximum penalty of a year in prison and $100,000 fines on each of the three charges.
Family of 6 killed in airplane crash
LAKE WALES, Fla. (AP) — A Kansas businessman, his wife and their four children were killed Thursday when their small plane crashed into a swampy area of central Florida, authorities said.
The single-turboprop, fixed wing plane broke apart and went down about 12:30 p.m. in the Tiger Creek Preserve, just south of Lake Wales, the Polk County Sheriff’s office said. Ronald Bramlage, 45, was piloting the plane headed from the Bahamas to Junction City, Kan. The family had stopped for customs in Fort Pierce, Fla., and had taken off a half-hour before the crash.
The 2006 Pilatus PC-12/47 was at about 26,000 feet when it first began experiencing trouble, officials said. Deputies reached the area by helicopters but it was clear there were no survivors, the sheriff’s office said.
The cause wasn’t immediately known, and parts of the plane were found two miles from the crash site, which was only reachable by helicopters and all-terrain vehicles. The National Transportation Safety Board will lead the investigation but a Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman said it would take a long time.
‘The Brain’ gets 8 years in prison
CHICAGO (AP) — A reputed Chicago mobster who gained notoriety three decades ago for stealing the 45-carat Marlborough Diamond from a London jewelry store was sentenced to prison in another case Thursday, telling the judge he got involved in more robberies because he was bored.
Arthur “The Brain” Rachel, 73, was sentenced to 8½ years in prison for his involvement in planning robberies with two other accomplices, both of whom are also in their 70s. Before the sentencing, U.S. District Court Judge Harry Leinenweber asked Rachel why he got involved after spending nearly a decade in prison for the diamond heist.
“It’s the way we are,” Rachel responded. “We got nothing better to do. We sit around talking.”
Rachel and Joseph “The Monk” Scalise staged a daring daytime theft of the Marlborough Diamond in 1980. Both men were convicted in Britain of threatening to use a hand grenade while robbing London’s posh Graff Jewelers of $3.6 million worth of goods, including the diamond. They began serving 15-year prison terms in 1984 and were released in 1993. The diamond was never recovered.
Leinenweber found Rachel guilty in a bench trial, while his co-defendants — Scalise, 74, and Robert Pullia, 70 — pleaded guilty earlier.
U.S. smashes heat record for spring
WASHINGTON (AP) — Call it spring’s fever. Federal records show the U.S. just finished its hottest spring on record.
March, April and May in the Lower 48 states beat the oldest spring temperature record by a full 2 degrees. The three months averaged 57.1 degrees, more than 5 degrees above average. That’s the most above normal for any U.S. season on record. Meteorologists define those three months as spring.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration also reported Thursday that it was the second warmest May since records began in 1895. May averaged 64.3 degrees, just behind 1934.
The first five months of 2012 were the hottest start to a year in U.S. weather record history. The 12-month period starting last June is also the hottest on record. Meteorologists blamed a persistent weather pattern.