Futures Movers: Oil holds above $97; natural-gas prices drop 4%

By Myra P. Saefong and Polya Lesova, MarketWatch

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) ? Oil futures settled higher Thursday, holding above $97 a barrel after U.S. data showed a decline in weekly jobless claims, boosting the outlook for demand, but strength in the U.S. dollar kept a cap on gains.

Natural-gas futures dropped to a six-week low with traders disappointed over the size of last week?s fall in U.S. inventories.

Oil for March delivery /quotes/zigman/2291769 CLH3 +0.02% climbed 30 cents, or 0.3%, to settle at $97.31 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

CEOs flying coach as belts tighten

Business travel is back to prerecession levels, but road warriors can expect less legroom than before.

The contract added to gains after the Labor Department reported that weekly jobless claims dropped by 27,000 to a seasonally adjusted 341,000, much more than expected. See: U.S. jobless claims sink 27,000 to 341,000.

?Weekly jobless claims came in much better than expected to lift the general mood,? said Matt Smith, commodity analyst at Schneider Electric in Louisville, Ky., in a note. But ?the mood in Europe is much more downbeat as updated GDP data out of both Germany and France came in worse than expected, highlighting a deepening recession.? See: German, French GDP contract by more than expected.

The March crude contract had hit an intraday low of $96.77 a barrel after data showed euro-zone gross domestic product contracted by 0.6% in the final three months of 2012, versus forecasts for a 0.4% drop.

The euro extended its slide versus the dollar.

The euro /quotes/zigman/4867933/sampled EURUSD -0.0444% extended a slide versus the dollar. A stronger dollar can undercut the value of commodities, such as oil, that are priced in the U.S. currency. See: Euro-zone GDP plunge stokes rate-cut expectations .

London-traded April Brent North Sea crude futures /quotes/zigman/2735833 UK:LCOJ3 +0.14% added 12 cents to settle at $118 a barrel, after a 13-cent advance Wednesday.

?Concerns over Middle East remained after the [United Nations] nuclear watchdog said it failed to reach a deal with Iran on investigating its nuclear program,? said Fawad Razaqzada, technical analyst at GFT Markets, in a note.

But with West Texas Intermediate crude traded on Nymex remaining below $98, ?the near-term outlook remains unclear,? he said. Once the price ?breaks through this barrier, then we could see a move toward $100 a barrel, while a break below $95 would pave the way for a move to the downside.?

Nymex crude-oil prices fell 50 cents on Wednesday after conflicting data on U.S. petroleum supplies and forecasts on global oil-demand growth. See: Oil slips; traders parse through conflicting data.

Elsewhere in the energy complex Thursday, gasoline futures were a standout, rallying by 3%. Data on gasoline supplies released this week showed unexpected declines.

March gasoline /quotes/zigman/2052322 RBH3 +0.45% tacked on 8 cents, for a rise of 2.7% to $3.12 a gallon, the highest level for a front-month contract since late September. March heating oil /quotes/zigman/2202749 HOH3 +0.0093% settled at $3.22 a gallon, up half a cent, or nearly 0.2%.

March natural gas /quotes/zigman/2294272 NGH13 +0.38% fell 14 cents, or 4.3%, to end at $3.16 per million British thermal units, its lowest since Jan. 9. Prices fell further after the EIA on Thursday reported a decline in U.S. inventories that was a bit less than expected.

Supplies fell by 157 billion cubic feet for the week ended Feb. 8, the EIA said. Analysts polled by Platts forecast a decline between 160 billion and 164 billion cubic feet. See: Natural-gas prices fall further after EIA data.

The government report ?suggests a further minor bearish shift in the background supply/demand balance, with modest bearish implications for the reports to follow,? said Tim Evans, an energy futures analyst at Citi Futures, in a note.

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Myra Saefong is a MarketWatch reporter based in San Francisco. Follow her on Twitter @MktwSaefong. Polya Lesova is MarketWatch's New York deputy bureau chief. Follow her on Twitter @PolyaLesova. Michael Kitchen in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B8339C91A-7664-11E2-96E1-002128040CF6%7D&siteid=rss&rss=1

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Inching Towards Equality: Military Benefits Extended to Same-Sex Couples

Advocates call Panetta's policy switch ?encouraging"

Military benefits have been extended to the same-sex spouses and unmarried partners of gay service members. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta extended the perks, all previously denied by the Pentagon, on Monday including child care services, member-designated hospital visits, and the issuing of military ID cards, which will give the spouses and partners access to on-base commissaries, movie theaters and gyms. However, the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) still blocks the Department of Defense from enacting more than 85 other benefits provided to heterosexual couples and their families, most notably medical and dental care, housing allowances, and death benefits. (NBC News)

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Source: http://www.loop21.com/life/military-benefits-extended-to-gay-members-same-sex-couples

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Cops: Honor student killed by Chicago gang members

CHICAGO (AP) ? Chicago police say two gang members charged in the death of a 15-year-old honor student mistook her and her friends for members of a rival gang and attacked the group in retaliation for a shooting that injured one of them over the summer.

Hadiya Pendleton died after being shot in a park about a mile from the Chicago home of President Barack Obama on Jan. 29, just days after she performed during his inauguration festivities in Washington. Her death was among dozens of homicides in Chicago last month, though her background and ties to Obama thrust her death into the national headlines.

Michael Ward, 18, and Kenneth Williams, 20, were charged Monday with first-degree murder, two counts of attempted murder and aggravated battery with a firearm, Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said Monday night. Both were taken into custody late Saturday while on their way to a strip club ? and just hours after first lady Michelle Obama and other dignitaries attended Pendleton's funeral.

"Ward confessed and indicated Hadiya was not the intended target. They got it all wrong," McCarthy said.

Pendleton, a popular high school majorette, was with a group of friends who took cover during a rainstorm under a canopy in a park about a mile from the Obama home on the city's South Side. Police said a man hopped a fence, ran toward them and opened fire with a handgun before fleeing in a waiting car. Pendleton was struck in the back and died later that day. Two others were injured.

McCarthy said Ward told investigators he thought he was shooting into the crowd of a rival gang, and that the shooting was meant as retaliation for Williams being shot in the arm in July. Police said neither Pendleton nor her friends were affiliated with gangs.

Williams, who refused to cooperate with authorities after the July shooting, was driving the getaway car, McCarthy said. He added that both men were arrested while on their way to a strip club to celebrate a friend's birthday Saturday night.

Pendleton's death was one of more than 40 homicides in Chicago in January, a total that made it the deadliest January in the city in more than a decade. But her murder attracted national attention and helped put Chicago at the center of a national debate over gun control.

Not only did the first lady attend the teen's funeral, but the girl's parents were set to sit with Michelle Obama during the president's State of the Union address on Tuesday night. Obama is scheduled to return to Chicago three days later to discuss gun violence.

Homicides in Chicago topped 500 last year for the first time since 2008, stoking residents' concerns about gun violence and leading the police department to put more officers on the street and to focus more on combatting gangs.

McCarthy, who is pushing for tougher gun laws that would increase minimum sentences for gun crimes, noted that Ward was arrested in January 2011 on a gun charge but he received probation after pleading guilty to unlawful use of a weapon. If Chicago had laws like those in New York City, McCarthy said, Ward wouldn't have been on the streets.

"This has to stop. Gun offenders have to do significant jail time," said McCarthy, who rose through the ranks of New York City's police and is the former police director in Newark, N.J.

McCarthy said the arrests occurred after police figured out that the description of the car in which the shooter fled matched the description of a vehicle in which Williams had been pulled over a day before the shootings. The police superintendent noted it didn't come from a tip from the community.

"I'm sad to point out we did not get our target audience to step up," he said.

Just as the December killing of 20 children and six adults at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., brought renewed scrutiny of the nation's gun laws, the death of the popular Chicago teen has cast the city's gun violence in a new light.

Earlier Monday, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel seemed to make just that point.

"The only time when the gun issue ever gets affected is when Newtown happens," he said. "What happens in urban areas around the country too often ... gets put to the side."

He said that while it's not wrong that massacres stir such debate, what happens on the streets of Chicago and in other urban areas "gets put in a different value system."

"These are our kids," he said, his voice rising. "These are our children."

Emanuel joined McCarthy and Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez at an afternoon news conference to announce they would push for tougher gun laws that would increase the minimum sentences and require offenders to serve at least 85 percent of their sentences.

They say the law now allows offenders to be released after serving no more than half their sentences and sometimes obtain their release after a matter of weeks.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/cops-honor-student-killed-chicago-gang-members-080452025.html

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K-State online personal finance service gains 700 users in 2 weeks ...

At the beginning of February, Powercat Financial Counseling set out to recruit 2,000 users for a new financial management platform that would provide students with free access to an array of online tools to manage their money.

SALTmoney.com, a website dedicated to helping college students keep track of loan payments, secure jobs and internships, read about current financial news and more, first debuted on the K-State campus on Jan. 25 at the Winter Expo and Activities Carnival, where PFC set up a booth to attract potential users.

As of Tuesday afternoon, PFC had officially helped 700 students create and start exploring their new SALT accounts, Kaus said.

?We will soon be at the halfway point to reaching our goal,? said Jodi Kaus, director of PFC. ?We have been pushing students to get involved with SALT, and I really think that we can get to our goal of 2,000 new users by the end of the month.?

Students who have signed up to use the personal financial management tool have reported positive reviews of the website.

?I really like the fact that you can customize your account to your own personal loans and link it to what you specifically have to pay,? said Adam Fox, junior in journalism and mass communications.

Fox said various other features also make SALT an attractive opportunity for students looking to get their financial situation in order, such as the job and internship search system.

Fox said that the website would also be useful to those who have already graduated.

?There?s a section called ?fit your lifestyle into your budget? which lets you pick certain scenarios for how much you would be earning, your tuition repayment and where you live to see how much money you need to live comfortably,? Fox said. ?It?s resources like these that make me think that SALT would definitely be useful even after I?m done with school.?

In order to continue encouraging students to use the free online resource, PFC will set up a booth every Wednesday in February, including today, on the second floor of the K-State Student Union in front of the food court.

They will also have a booth set up in Bramlage Coliseum before the Feb. 25 men?s basketball game against Texas Tech University. PFC will be giving away prizes for those who sign up for a SALT account, including a basketball signed by men?s basketball head coach Bruce Weber.

Money

Source: http://www.kstatecollegian.com/2013/02/12/k-state-online-personal-finance-service-gains-700-users-in-2-weeks/

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In a Funk? Try Eating These 3 Mood-Boosting Foods | Daily Savings ...

Everyone has them ? days when you feel a little ho-hum. Nosh on these mood-enhancing foods to get back to your happier self?

Fish

Seafood like salmon and mackerel contain omega-3 fatty acids that have been connected to reductions in clinical depression and higher moods. Two servings per week (or a daily, 1,000-milligram supplement) should do the trick.

Related: Easy Salmon Recipes to Try Tonight

Spinach

Make like Popeye and eat your spinach. The folate in spinach allows your body to make dopamine and serotonin. 400 micrograms per day is ideal ? there are 60 mcg in 1 cup raw and 100 mcg in 1/2 cup cooked.

Related: Yummy Spinach Salad Recipe (With Strawberries!)

Cinnamon

Take the cinnamon challenge. Shown to help stabilize blood sugar levels, cinnamon may help you avoid bouts of hunger and irritability. Try to get 1/4-1/2 teaspoon per day; sprinkle a little in your oatmeal or in your coffee.

Related: Great Recipes That Incorporate Cinnamon

Photo Credit: Flickr/Lauren Fan

Sources: Michael Breus, PhD, author of Beauty Sleep: Look Younger, Lose Weight, and Feel Great Through Better Sleep; Katherine Muller, PsyD, director of the Cognitive Behavior Therapy Program at Montefiore Medical Center; Susan Nolen-Hoeksema, PhD, professor of psychology at Yale University and author of The Power of Women: Harness Your Unique Strengths at Home, at Work, and in YourCommunity; David R. Rubinow, MS, director of the Center for Women?s Mood Disorders at the University of North Carolina and the chair of the UNC psychiatry department; Elizabeth Somer, MA, RD, author of Eat Your Way to Happiness

Source: http://dailysavings.allyou.com/2013/02/11/funk-mood-bosting-foods/

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Marketing technique: Activating gender stereotypes just to knock 'em down

Feb. 12, 2013 ? In certain circles, such as publishing, it has been well-documented that female authors have taken male pen names to attract a larger audience and/or get their book published. But should marketers actually highlight gender and activate stereotypes to sell more products?

A new study by USC Marshall Professor Valerie Folkes and Ohio State University Professor Shashi Matta looks at the issue of product perception of consumers through the lens of gender stereotypes. The researchers conclude that while traditional gender stereotypes can still have a significant influence on consumer behavior in the 21st century, there are ways that firms can activate these stereotypes solely to transcend them.

In the study "When a product takes on characteristics of the person who created it: Sometimes it sounds sweeter" published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology, Folkes and Matta used the world of classical music as a way to understand consumer behavior and its ties to gender stereotypes. They asked undergraduates as well as classical music audiences to evaluate the music of male and female conductors.

Students were prompted with the knowledge that one conductor was male and the other was female. When initially asked to characterize the music of the male conductor, participants in the study described the music as powerful. When asked to assess the music of the female conductor, they judged her music to be more delicate, less powerful and of worse quality than the male conductor.

However, Folkes and Matta conducted an additional experiment in which participants were given additional but critical information about the quality and competence of the female conductor before they listened to the music. With this information in hand, the participants judged the female conductor's music as simultaneously both powerful and delicate -- attributes that might normally be in opposition. Given this contradiction and complexity, the consumers also affirmed the quality of the music and turned the music's "delicacy" as a positive versus a possible negative attribute.

"When we gave the participants additional information about the source, the woman conductor was perceived more positively," said Folkes. This is an important message for firms -- promoting product sources -- even if revealing the gender of these sources makes consumers retrieve stereotypical attributes, can influence the consumer experience, perception and behavior in a positive way -- as long as marketers are stressing the competency of the maker at the same time.

Folkes and Matta provide compelling information for marketers: "Gender provides an opportunity for differentiation not only because many domains are gender-typed but also because it is associated with many product attributes." By stressing competence and quality, it has the possibility, Folkes indicated, of first transcending any negative stereotypes, showcasing human complexity and rendering the product more appealing. For example, compared to when the source is a man, consumers may experience a female director's action film as having more of a romantic subplot, may taste a female chef's hearty barbecue and sense sweeter undertones and may consider a female apparel designer's outdoor gear to be both tough and stylish.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by USC Marshall School of Business, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Valerie S. Folkes, Shashi Matta. When a product takes on characteristics of the person who created it: Sometimes it sounds sweeter. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 2013; 23 (1): 19 DOI: 10.1016/j.jcps.2012.01.006

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/R3U1RKIuhCg/130212141041.htm

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Starbucks Canada to open more than 150 stores in 2013

Starbucks photo

Starbucks' Blonde roast sales in Canada have exceeded the company's expectations, with twice as many people per capita drinking it than in the U.S.

Katie Scaff, Staff Writer

Starbucks Canada says it will undergo the largest expansion this year in the company?s 26-year history, with plans to open more than 150 stores across the country.

The growth of the Seattle-based Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX) subsidiary comes in part thanks to Target Corp., which will open Starbucks outlets in many of the 124 Canadian locations it plans to open in 2013. Starbucks Canada said the expansion is also a response to the success it has seen since launching its Blonde roast last year.

With more than 1,200 locations, Canada is Starbucks? biggest international market.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/bizj_seattle/~3/h6cIXFF9rUQ/starbucks-canada-to-open-more-than-150.html

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