| | Economic Events | | Privately-owned housing starts in October were
at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,060,000, according to the Census
Bureau. This is 11% below the revised September estimate of 1,191,000 and is
1.8% below the October 2014 rate of 1,079,000. Single-family housing starts in
October were at a rate of 722,000; this is 2.4% below the revised September
figure of 740,000. The October rate for units in buildings with five units or
more was 327,000. | | | Market Mirror | Major U.S.
stock indices had their biggest gain in four weeks as investors were encouraged
by corporate deal news, according to the Associated Press. The Dow rose 247.66
points (1.42%) to 17,737.16, the NASDAQ climbed 89.19 points (1.79%) to
5,075.20, and the S&P 500 gained 34.41 points (1.68%) to finish at
2,084.85. The Russell 2000 increased 18.54 points (1.61%) to 1,171.74, and the Wilshire
5000 closed 337.26 points (1.58%) higher at 21,638.00.
On the NYSE,
3.2 billion shares traded, with advancing issues outnumbering declining issues
more than 3 to 1. On the NASDAQ, 2.7 billion shares changed hands, with a more than
2 to 1 lead for advancers.
The price of the 10-year Treasury note decreased,
bringing its yield up to 2.271%. The price of the 30-year Treasury bond
increased 8/32, bringing its yield down to 3.044%.
| | | Compliance | | City’s Retirement Plan Claims Against Buck Dismissed | | A U.S. district court has dismissed a lawsuit in
which the city of Providence, Rhode Island, claimed a miscalculation by Buck
Consultants caused it to miss out on cost savings for its pension plan by
leading it to settle a lawsuit with a union and retirees. The city alleges that
Buck overestimated the amount the city would save by suspending cost-of-living
adjustments (COLAs) for the city’s pension plans, causing it to negotiate and
approve a settlement with the unions representing police officers and firefighters,
as well as the association representing retired police officers and
firefighters, which it would not have agreed to had it known of Buck’s error.
The city and the Providence Retired Police and Firefighters’ Association, Inc.
were ordered into mediation in litigation concerning the constitutionality of a
pension ordinance that would suspend COLAs for the pension plan as of January
1, 2013.Read more > | | Will State Run Plans Help Close the Coverage Gap? | | PLANSPONSOR caught up with David Levine,
principal and ERISA specialist with Groom Law Group in Washington, D.C., a few
days after the Department of Labor (DOL) published much-anticipated and
increasingly controversial pieces of guidance to aid states with offering
retirement planning solutions to private-sector workers who lack access to
tax-qualified retirement plans at work. Levine discussed the challenges for, and potential
positive outcomes from, DOL guidance about state-run retirement plans for the
private sector.Read more > | | | From the Magazine | | 2015 PLANSPONSOR DC Survey | | A year has passed since PLANSPONSOR’s last
Defined Contribution (DC) Survey, and many of the things that were said last
year can be repeated: Recordkeeping is a low-margin service, meaning
consolidation in the defined contribution plan recordkeeping market continues,
and the platform differentiators between such providers are becoming less
distinct, making it tougher for plan sponsors to find the unique characteristics
of a provider that would make it the best fit for a particular plan. One
concern among those in the industry searching for providers—such as consultants
and plan sponsors—is that, as mergers and acquisitions increase, the market
will have fewer and fewer recordkeepers to bid on many plans.Read more > | | | Small Talk | | ON THIS DATE: In
1863, U.S. President Lincoln
delivered his Gettysburg Address as he dedicated a national cemetery at the
site of the Civil War battlefield in Pennsylvania. In 1895, the “paper pencil” was patented by Frederick E.
Blaisdell. In 1928, “Time”
magazine presented its cover in color for the first time. The subject was
Japanese Emperor Hirohito. In 1959,
Ford Motor Co. announced it was ending the production of the unpopular Edsel.
In 1969, Apollo 12 astronauts Charles Conrad and Alan Bean made man’s second
landing on the moon. In 1984, Dwight
Gooden of the New York Mets, became the youngest major-league pitcher, at age
20, to be named Rookie of the Year in the National League. In 2001, U.S. President George W. Bush
signed the most comprehensive air security bill in U.S. history. In 2007, the Amazon Kindle was first
released. | | SURVEY SAYS: There
has been much controversy in the news about stores opening for shoppers on
Thanksgiving, but a recent survey indicates more people plan to shop that day
than the day after (Black Friday). This week, I’d like to know, will you shop
during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, and how do you feel about stores
opening for shoppers on Thanksgiving Day? You may respond to this survey by 6
p.m. Pacific time today.Read more > | | Share the good news with a friend! Pass the Dash along – and tell your
friends/associates they can sign up for their own copy.Read more > |
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