Markets climb to close Wednesday
NEW YORK, March 23 (UPI) -- U.S. equities rose Wednesday after an early downturn prompted by a report that showed the housing market remained in a depression.
The Commerce Department said sales of new single-family homes in February dropped 16.9 percent from January, falling to an annual rate of 250,000 sales. The median sales price also dropped sharply in February to $202,100 from $246,000 the previous month.
Shares slid early but regained some traction through the day. The Dow Jones industrial average recovered to add 67.39 points, 0.56 percent, to 12,086.02. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 0.29 percent, 3.77, to 1,297.54. The Nasdaq composite index gained 0.54 percent, 14.43, to 2,698.30.
On the New York Stock Exchange, 1,635 stocks advanced and 1,325 declined on a volume of 4 billion shares traded.
The 10-year treasury note fell 4/32 to yield 3.343 percent.
The euro fell to $1.4088 from Tuesday's $1.4199. Against the yen, the dollar fell to 80.90 yen from Tuesday's 80.91 yen.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index lost 1.65 percent, 158.85, to 9,449.47.
In London, the FTSE 100 index added 0.58 percent, 33.17, to 5,795.88.
UAW president scathing on Ford CEO's pay
DETROIT, March 23 (UPI) -- United Auto Workers President Bob King tipped his hat to Ford President Alan Mulally Wednesday, then said his salary was reprehensible.
"I think Alan Mulally is a great CEO, but I don't think any human being in the world deserves that much money. I think it's outrageous," King said at a union powwow in Detroit.
"I like Alan Mulally," King said. "But I just think it's morally wrong," he said referring to Mulally's compensation package for 2010, which included 3.8 million shares of company stock, The Detroit News reported.
Pointedly, he also said, "In fairness we don't want to make the companies we have a good relationship with uncompetitive in the market place."
Union leaders are meeting to discuss contract negotiations. UAW contracts for Ford Motor Co., General Motors Co. and Chrysler expire Sept. 14.
Ford spokesman John Stoll said King's remarks were not a sign that contract talks would be difficult this year.
"We have a history of working collaboratively together to find solutions to critical issues, and we look forward to our discussions with them later this year," Stoll said.
For a union, taking a swipe at high executive salaries was par for the course, said Dave Cole, chairman emeritus of the Center for Automotive Research.
"Business as usual," Cole said.
State tax revenues fall 4 percent
WASHINGTON, March 23 (UPI) -- The U.S. Census Bureau said Wednesday state tax collections dropped by $14 billion or 4 percent in 2010.
Collections for all states fell to $704.6 billion after dropping by $65 billion in 2009.
Eleven states saw increases last year, the largest a 9.6 percent increase in North Dakota. In Wyoming, at the opposite end of the spectrum, revenues dropped 23.4 percent in 2010, the bureau said.
The second-largest total decrease was in Louisiana, where collections dropped 14.2 percent, followed by Oklahoma, where they dropped 13.5 percent.
Overall, income tax revenues dropped 4.4 percent in the year to $236.4 billion and corporate tax revenues fell 6.6 percent to $38.2 billion. General sales tax collected by states dropped 1.8 percent to $224.5 billion.
Those three categories of taxes make up 70.8 percent of all revenue collected by states, the bureau said.
BofA to try again on dividend increase
CHARLOTTE, N.C., March 23 (UPI) -- Bank of America said Wednesday it would submit a second proposal to the U.S. Federal Reserve concerning an increase in share dividends.
The bank's initial proposal to increase shares in the second half of the year was turned down, The New York Times reported.
BofA is currently paying one cent per share. Like other big banks, dividends were slashed after the financial meltdown in 2008.
The Fed loosened restrictions on dividends for other big banks that had been put through a second round of financial stress tests, the results of which were revealed Friday.
Soon after the test results were announced, Wells Fargo said it would increase its quarterly dividend rate by 7 cents per share to 12 cents, the Charlotte (N.C.) Observer reported.
JPMorgan Chase also said it would increase dividends and Citigroup said it would begin paying one cent per share.
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, BofA said, "The corporation will continue to work with the Federal Reserve and intends to seek permission for a modest increase in its common dividend for the second half of 2011, through the submission of a revised comprehensive capital plan to the Federal Reserve."
