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Consumer confidence in the U.S. unexpectedly fell in January to a one-year low, thus tempering the recent rally we have seen in the US equity markets. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary index of consumer sentiment dropped to 71.3, the lowest since December 2011. However, from a corporate earnings standpoint, things are looking good. Both General Electric and Morgan Stanley's earnings beat analyst estimates, as overall economic data from the U.S. seems to be on a positive track.
The S&P 500 is 5.4% below its all-time high of 1,565.15 set in October 2007. As the market potentially gets closer to this level, it will likely make the news more and more. This alone can potentially bring more buyers into the market that want to hop on the rally train. We believe the next few U.S. payroll and unemployment reports will have a huge impact on the stock and bond markets. Bernanke and co. have emphasized the unemployment rate as a key metric for the Fed, thus we expect the market to watch this number very closely.
Most precious metals, especially platinum, are down today. Platinum futures, after a very impressive run from $1,510 to $1,700, are down $20 today, or 1.21%. Gold futures, after a mild rally over the past few sessions, are down $4 today. Our upper range level of $1,690 was briefly breached today, but gold came back down. If the U.S. dollar starts to pick up steam above the key 80 level, we believe gold will head lower towards the $1,630-$1,640 level again.
Crude oil is markedly quiet today, even with the gas plant takeover in Algeria. We wish the best for all involved in that situation. We believe that there is indeed a potential supply glut in crude oil, and even with an improving global economy which might require more and more energy than a recessionary economy, we still believe that crude oil is simply "climbing a wall of worry" now and that if the Algeria plant takeover concludes peacefully and production concerns abate, crude might head lower quickly to the low $90s.
We focus more on the U.S. Dollar index today. Since last September, the U.S. Dollar Index has been in a trading range between 79 and 81. It has tried to break and hold below 79 three times in that period, and has not been successful. We believe the index will experience a rally to the 81.50 level, and possibly beyond that. If the US economic numbers continue to surprise to the upside and bond rates start to rise, we might see a sharp rally in USD and a corresponding sell-off in precious metals, especially if market talk picks up about QE3 ending this year and even a potential Fed rate hike before 2015.
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Sponsored by Football
Luther lost a hard-fought 23-22 decision to Presentation College this afternoon in Aberdeen, S.D.
The Norse produced 431 yards of total offense, most of which came on the ground. JJ Sirios and Josh Vos rushed for 140 and 110 yards respectively leading the ground attack to 413 yards.
Defensively, the Norse held the Saints to 203 yards of total offense, but three lost Norse fumbles and a couple of special team mistakes, gave the Saints great field possession that led to scores.
Individually, Cody Berger picked off two passes and Eric Pittman recovered the Saints lone fumble of the afternoon.
Presentation scored what proved to be the winning touchdown at 4:48 after turning a Luther fumble into a 50-yard go-ahead drive.
The Norse had an opportunity to win on the final play of the game. Starting from their own 29, the Norse drove to the Presentation 17-yard line, but missed a 35-yard field goal wide left as time expired.
Luther will return to action one week from today when it will host St. Olaf College at 1:00 p.m. This game will be video streamed.
At this time we don't have any defensive stats or play-by-play, but we do have team stats, individual offensive stats, and team stats.
Questions? Contact David Blanchard, post_to_results, 563-387-1586

subset: commoncrawl


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ADRIAN — A split over leadership of the Lenawee County Commission was resolved Friday with a secret ballot election of John Tuckerman, R-Blissfield, for a third year as chairman.
Commissioners voted unanimously to use a rare secret ballot vote after Tuckerman and Cletus Smith, R-Madison Twp., were nominated at the annual re-organization meeting. Slips of paper collected from the commissioners showed five votes for Tuckerman and four for Smith.
A glitch in state law allows county commissioners to use a secret vote for chairman that would otherwise be a violation of Michigan's Open Meetings Act.
No such exemption exists for the commission's vice chairman seat. Commissioners again split 5-4 to re-elect David Stimpson, R-Tecumseh, as vice chairman. Chris Wittenbach, R-Clinton, was the losing candidate.
Newly elected commissioners Terry Collins, R-Adrian, and Jim Driskill, R-Hudson, joined Stimpson, K.Z. Bolton, D-Adrian, and Tuckerman in re-electing Stimpson. Voting with Wittenbach were Smith, Jack Branch, R-Onsted, and Ralph Tillotson, R-Adrian Twp.
After the votes, Smith said he is committed to working with Tuckerman "for the betterment of the county" in the commission's new term.
"Welcome aboard, Mr. chairman. Whatever I can do for you I will," Smith said.
Tuckerman later said he appreciated Smith's interest in becoming commission chairman.
"I think it's an honor and a privilege to lead the county," Tuckerman said.
His goals for the new year, he said, are to see Lenawee County emerge from the hard economic times of recent years and to reform the system of county government to give the administrator more authority, especially to quickly deal with matters affecting economic development.
Commissioners approved a slate of committee assignments Tuckerman proposed at the reorganizational meeting, but only on an interim basis. Final action is normally taken on committee assignments at the reorganizational meeting. Tillotson asked that a final vote be delayed to give commissioners more time to consider Tuckerman's proposed assignments.
The list includes putting Tillotson back in charge of the personnel/ways and means committee that handles the most critical hiring and spending issues. Tillotson gave up chairmanship of the committee two years ago.
A meeting schedule that continues traditional dates was approved after discussion of separating personnel/ways and means meetings from monthly commission sessions. The meetings are held on consecutive days.
"The idea and the intent is something we should consider," said Tillotson. "It may be just a little green for us to make a decision on it this morning."
Suggestions were to move monthly commission meetings to a week after the committee session or to move up the committee session to create several days between the meetings.
Bolton also suggested quarterly night meetings this year to be held at rotating sites around the county.
"All of us would like to see more community participation in our meetings," said Tuckerman. Discussion of possible schedule changes are to be continued at the committee level.
Tuckerman returned as county chairman
ADRIAN — A split over leadership of the Lenawee County Commission was resolved Friday with a secret ballot election of John Tuckerman, R-Blissfield, for a third year as chairman.


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The Delaware Emergency Management Agency officials are reminding the public that advanced preparation is important as Hurricane Sandy makes its way northward toward the Delaware area.
The Delaware Emergency Management Agency officials are reminding the public that advanced preparation is important as Hurricane Sandy makes its way northward toward the Delaware area.
Here are some helpful tips:
Make sure flashlights (one per person), extra batteries and bulbs and battery operated lanterns. During periods of extended power outages, solar-powered landscape lights can be brought indoors at night to provide light, then placed back outside in daylight to re-charge.If the home has cordless phones, remember, they will not work if the electricity is off, so you should have a standby telephone – either a cell phone or a telephone with a cord that can be plugged in. A cell phone car charger can be used if power to the home is out for an extended period of time.Also, a portable radio and extra batteries are extremely important. A battery operated NOAA weather radio is also recommended.Include a first aid kit in your emergency supplies. The kit should at least contain bandages, aspirin or other pain relievers, gauze pads, first aid ointment, elastic bandage and tweezers.Have plenty of infant supplies on hand, including food, canned milk or formula, disposable diapers and other necessities.Stock up on food that does not require refrigeration or cooking, such as canned meats, vegetables, fruits, juices, dry cereals and powdered milk. Store enough supplies to last for at least three days. This means you should also have a manual can opener.Have food and water for pets and records of shots and medication.Make sure to have a supply of water, for both drinking and for sanitation purposes. Store water in plastic jugs or covered containers. Have one gallon per day per person of drinking water for those in your household. A pre-filled bathtub can provide water to refill toilet tanks.Check your prescription medications. If supplies are low, get refills before the storm arrives.For more information, visit www.dema.delaware.gov.


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In 1983, the Baltimore Colts selected John Elway with the first pick in that year's NFL draft. Elway had no interest in playing for the Colts, and said he would play professional baseball if they took him. So the Colts traded Elway to the Broncos for two players and a first-round pick in the 1984 draft. The rest is history.
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Recipes brought to you by Avanti Savoia
Visit us online at www.avantisavoia.com
Port Braised Cornish Game Hens
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(Recipe ID: 563)
Serves 6
Preparation time: 40 minutes; Cook time: 65 minutes
Source: Chef Joseph Lowery
Rich, moist and flavorful dish from Scotland.
Items indicated with an astrisk (*) available for purchase in the Avanti Savoia store. See below to add these items to your cart.
- 3 Cornish Game Hens
- 1/4 cup Butter
- 2 tablespoons Cooking oil *
- 1 cup Port
- 2 cups Dark poultry stock
- The juice and zest of 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon Each salt and coarsely ground black pepper *
- 3 tablespoons Cornstarch
- Fresh grapes for garnish
- Cut the backbone from the game birds, and split them in half; lengthwise through the breast. This is most easily done using poultry shears.
- Make a little slit in the skin at the lower side of the breast and tuck in the end of the drumstick for a neat presentation.
- In a large skillet; heat the butter and oil and brown the split birds starting with the skin side down.
- When brown; transfer birds to a large casserole dish.
- Pour off the fat from the skillet and de-glaze the pan with the port.
- Pour liquid over the birds in the casserole dish.
- Add stock, lemon, salt and pepper to casserole dish.
- Cook covered in a pre-heated 375 degree oven, checking for doneness after 20 minutes.
- Birds are done when thighs are tender.
- Remove cover and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Place cooked birds on a warmed platter and thicken pan juices in casserole dish with cornstarch.
- Pour a spoonful of sauce on each serving and place remainder in a gravy boat.
- Arrange grapes on platter with braised game birds and serve.
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The following ingredients are available in the Avanti Savoia online store. Click the product name for more information.


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CLEMSON, S.C. - Four Blue Devils reached double-digit kills and junior Ali McCurdy broke the school single season dig record but the Duke volleyball team came up short against Clemson, falling 3-2 (21-25, 25-16, 19-25, 25-16, 15-12) to the Tiger Friday evening at Jervey Gym.
McCurdy, the ACC leader in digs per set, picked up 17 tonight, bringing her season total to 654. That mark establishes the Duke single season record, which McCurdy set just last season. The Tampa, Fla., native has 1,927 career digs to her credit and is 73 shy of becoming the second player in program history to reach 2,000 digs.
"[McCurdy] has been a constant for us on defense this year and on serve receive," said Nagel. "She is also leading for us out there on the court and anchoring our defense. She is becoming much more vocal and really taken a lot on her shoulders."
Senior Christiana Gray turned in a strong performance tonight, hitting .464 on 28 attempts, as the Carmel, Ind., native led the Blue Devils with 15 kills and nine blocks. Sophomore Jeme Obeime, freshman Emily Sklar and junior Chelsea Cook each eclipsed the 10-plus kill mark as well. Obeime (14 kills, 10 digs) and Sklar (13 kills, 16 digs) both recorded double-doubles, while Cook (11 kills) also added four blocks. Sophomore Kelsey Williams added a double-double as well, her third is as many matches, with 48 assists and 14 digs.
"Kelsey [Williams] did a great job of distributing the ball so we had four different people in double digit kills," added Nagel. "We had a low number of hitting errors, which was great, too. A lot of that has to do with how [Williams] distributed the ball. It's really exciting to see that many people in double digit digs because defense is crucial to us being successful. It was a great effort by our team tonight and there were a lot of great individual efforts in there, too."
The Blue Devils and the Tigers battled to five sets for the fifth time in the two teams' past seven meeting. Duke hit .258 on the night with 66 kills and utilized 13 blocks to limit Clemson to .183 hitting.
"I couldn't be prouder of how our team competed tonight," said Nagel. "We had more kills. We had a higher hitting percentage because we had fewer errors. We had more digs and we had more blocks. Sometimes the timing of the errors makes all the difference."
Clemson began the night with a 25-12 victory in the opening set as the Tigers knocked down 20 kills, compared to 14 for Duke. Mo Simmons, who finished the night with 14 kills, amassed five in the first set to pace the Tigers. After trailing 10-6 early, Duke came back to tie the score before Clemson pulled away late with an 8-4 run.
Set two belonged to the Blue Devils, who hit over .300 in the frame while limiting the Tigers to .062. Duke opened with a 10-4 spurt and never looked back, tying the match at 1-1 on a Cook kill. Duke registered 17 kills, led by Obeime with five, and limited Clemson to just six.
The back-and-forth action continued in the third set with Clemson holding the upper hand in both kills (19-12) and hitting percentage (.308-.273). The Tigers jumped out to an early lead and Duke was unable to significantly cut into the deficit.
Duke's blocking unit stopped four Clemson attempts in the fourth set, helping the Blue Devils limit the Tigers to .019 hitting and tie the match at 2-2. Gray led with way with seven kills on .875 hitting while Cook and freshman Elizabeth Campbell added three blocks each. An 11-8 Duke advantage turned into a 17-11 Blue Devil lead, bolstered by three kills from Gray. Clemson was unable to rally as the two squads headed to the fifth and final set.
"Clemson's a really good team" said Nagel. "They're a good blocking team. For us to come up with 13 blocks against their strong offense with a setter that distributes the ball well and is really deceptive is really great for our team. Blocking is something we really wanted to get better at. The whole weekend our team has done a good job of that."
Clemson held the upperhand early in the last frame, but the Blue Devils overcame a three-point deficit to knot the score at 9-9. Clemson followed a Duke service error with an ace of its own for a 13-10 lead. Duke fought back with a kill from Cook, but Clemson received a pair of kills from Sandra Adeleye, who led all players with 17 on the night, to seal the win.
Duke closes out the regular season with a trip to Wake Forest Tuesday, Nov. 20. The Blue Devils and the Demon Deacons are set to meet at 7 p.m.