Investing beyond your target-date fund

Many investors combine their target-date fund with one or more other investments.

(Money Magazine)

Target-date funds are designed to provide not only a fully diversified portfolio in a single fund, but also an investing strategy. Their mix of stocks and bonds gradually becomes more conservative as you age, protecting your savings as you near retirement. So in theory these funds work best if you put your entire 401(k) into one.

In the real world, however, many savers don't take such an exclusive approach. A recent Vanguard survey found that just under half of target-date investors in its 401(k) plans combine target funds with one or more other investments, in some cases even another target fund.

While mixing another fund with a target fund can be a reasonable choice, you have to be careful that doing so doesn't leave you with an unruly mishmash instead of a coherent portfolio.

Straying from the target

One good reason for going beyond a target fund is to adjust how much risk you're taking.

Let's say you're a young investor who likes the target-date concept because it frees you from having to create a portfolio on your own, but you're anxious about having 90% of your money in stocks, a typical allocation for investors in their twenties and thirties. Transferring, say, 20% of your target fund's balance into a diversified bond fund would give you a considerably less volatile portfolio.

Conversely, you could make a similar shift into a total stock market index fund to boost your 401(k)'s growth potential. This add-on strategy is a more effective way to tweak risk than picking a target fund with a later or earlier retirement date.

Related: Money 70 -- Best mutual funds and ETFs

Once you get beyond this sort of simple fine-tuning, however, things can get hairy. Some investors employ a "core and explore" strategy in which they use a target fund as a foundation and then add funds that focus on certain sectors, such as emerging markets or real estate.

Problem is, most target funds already spread their assets widely both here and abroad. So you could end up doubling down on niche markets.

Besides, you may not enjoy enough extra return to make up for the added time and trouble of monitoring and re-balancing a considerably more complicated portfolio.

If you do go that route, plug all your retirement investments, including those outside your 401(k), into Morningstar's Portfolio X-Ray tool (available free at troweprice.com). That way you can see your overall allocation and make sure you're not inadvertently overweighting any areas.

Related: Picking the right stock fund

But once you're investing in so many other funds that your target fund essentially becomes a bit player, you may be better off simply building a portfolio from scratch.

First Published: April 25, 2013: 6:25 AM ET

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When energy stocks look like bargains

Caterpillar and other heavy-equipment makers stand to gain from expanding mining and drilling operations.

(Money Magazine)

The Dow and S&P 500 have already risen more than twice that, besting their 2007 records and prompting the question, "Now what?"

Valuations don't suggest a snarling bear is about to pound at the door, but after a 120% run-up since March '09, stock prices clearly are no longer low.

Even the bullish money manager Laszlo Birinyi, who correctly shouted "buy" at the nadir of the financial crisis, admits that he'll "reassess" stocks when the S&P 500 gets to 1600. As of early April that was a mere 30 points away.

Related: 4 ways the market could really surprise you

One game plan for the cautiously bullish is to invest in stocks that pay dividends, especially those that have a record of growing their payouts. Dividend stocks have outperformed the broader market over time, and consistent dividend growers tend to have strong balance sheets and dependable cash flows. Investing in such stocks is a sound long-term strategy, but for now they've had a good run that you can't assume will necessarily continue.

Think cheap

So here's another option: Find a deal. Search for a beaten-down corner of the market that could be poised to play catch-up.

The prices of energy-related stocks were hit by the slowdown in global growth last year, but as the U.S. economy improves and America's energy boom gains traction, energy service firms look like a bargain.

National Oilwell Varco (NOV, Fortune 500) provides mechanical components for land and offshore oil rigs, and it stands to benefit as oil and gas exploration and production companies ramp up. The stock's price/earnings ratio is 12, less than the industry average and the market as a whole. Annual long-term earnings growth is projected to be 14%.

Caterpillar (CAT, Fortune 500) and other large-equipment companies should gain from expanded mining and drilling operations. With more than half the company's sales coming from outside the U.S., the stock has seesawed through the post-recessionary period as important markets such as China and Europe stalled. But with a P/E ratio of only 10, CAT appears to be undervalued.

"The heavy equipment segment will come back when capital spending commitments pick up again," says Ned Riley of Riley Asset Management in Boston. "The short-term disappointments have been discounted already, and the stocks are now better buys than they were before."

Related: Money 70 - Best mutual funds and ETFs

To diversify your exposure to energy services firms, look to the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Equipment & Services ETF (XES). Holdings include all the major players, such as Halliburton and Helmerich & Payne. The fund charges 0.35% of assets, so it's an inexpensive way to buy into an inexpensive sector.

First Published: April 25, 2013: 6:29 AM ET

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The best job you never thought of

Actuary consistently ranks among the top jobs in the United States. Do you know what they do?

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

It's in high demand, can pay six-figures a year, and your employer often foots the bill for on-the-job training. No grad school required!

It's an actuary, and for the past several years, it's been highly ranked as one of the best jobs in America on various lists, the most recent of which was compiled by CareerCast.

Despite all the good publicity, I can tell you from personal experience that most people still don't have an inkling what an actuary does.

My husband is an actuary, and when I introduce him to others as such, blank stares are common. Occasionally someone may say, "Oh, like the Ben Stiller character in Along Came Polly?"

The next inevitable question: "Can he predict when I'll die?"

So what is an actuary?

The job entails using statistics to estimate risks, usually for insurance companies. Actuaries set prices for insurance contracts and advise insurance companies just how much money they should set aside to pay out for future claims. They can also design pension and healthcare plans.

For example, an actuary may try to predict how much money an insurance company would have to pay out to cover damage from future hurricanes.

Insurance companies and insurance-related consulting firms are their largest employers, but actuaries are also scattered throughout academia and the government (they're crucial in the Social Security Administration, for example).

It's still a relatively small occupation, employing about 22,000 people in the United States, but it's expected to grow quickly. (By comparison, there are about 190,000 accountants in the country.)

The Labor Department forecasts the actuarial field will grow 27% between 2010 and 2020, adding 5,800 jobs during that decade. That's more new jobs than are expected from the economist, statistician and mathematician occupations combined.

That said, it's not an easy job to land, and it's certainly not the best fit for everybody.

The key to becoming a full-fledged actuary lies in passing an intense series of seven to nine exams, which can take between six to eight years to complete.

The good news is that employers often pay for the studies. Employers will often hire math, statistics or business majors with starting salaries around $45,000 to $50,000 a year, and then give them paid time off to study and take their exams, said Tom Miller, principal of Pinnacle Group Actuarial Recruiting.

Related: Top-paying jobs

Usually the salary increases with each passed exam. By the time all the exams are completed, the salary could have doubled, to around $90,000 a year, plus a bonus, Miller said.

The exams are notoriously difficult, and even among these math whizzes, it's not uncommon to fail one or two.

"These are people who have probably never failed an exam in their lives. They've gotten straight A's their whole life, and the failure rates can run as high as 60% on these exams. It's very, very challenging," Miller said.

Just go to a bar with a young actuary, and all they'll talk about is studying. The standard practice is to study 300 to 400 hours per exam.

If you can pass all the exams, the job is considered high paying and secure. One study, by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, finds that actuarial science graduates had a near-zero unemployment rate in 2010.

"It's a great job and one of the reasons why is the stability of the profession. Demand is greater than supply, and it's been that way for 30-plus years. There's no expectation that will change," Miller said.

The few occupational hazards entail sometimes working 10-hour days, and of course, the occasional jokes about being a math nerd.

As an accountant put it to me last month -- "an actuary is someone who wanted to be an accountant, but didn't have the personality for it."

Actuaries often like to tell it the other way around.

First Published: April 25, 2013: 6:32 AM ET

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Teens (and their parents) spending hundreds on prom

Sarah Hoffer, an 18-year-old high school senior in St. Louis, spent $259 on her prom dress, which required an extra $220 in alterations.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

On average, families expect to spend $1,139 on prom this year -- up roughly 40% from 2011's $807 average and a slight increase from last year, according to a Visa survey.

Families in the Northeast expect to pay the most, an average of $1,528, while Midwestern families were the most frugal, at an average of $722, according to the survey of more than 1,000 parents of prom-aged teens.

With traditions like debutante balls falling out of fashion and young people getting married later in life, prom has grown in importance and people are willing to spend more on the big night, said Kit Yarrow, a consumer research psychologist.

"Prom is the new wedding," Yarrow said. "I think that every society has to have a rite of passage into adulthood for young people, and prom has become that."

The increase in prom spending is also being driven by the popularity of photo-oriented sites like Facebook and Instagram, she said. Prom is "a post-able moment" which has heightened the pressure around appearances.

While parents still foot a majority of the bill, teens pay for about 41% of the costs, Visa's survey found.

Related: I had 10 jobs before age 25

Sarah Hoffer, an 18-year-old senior at Webster Groves High School in St. Louis, saved roughly a month's worth of pay from her job at a local car wash to help pay for her prom.

Her biggest expense was a $259 vintage-inspired dress that she fell in love with online. Her mother, Martha Valenta, agreed to pay for an additional $220 in alterations.

"The dress was real drama," said Valenta, who wore a borrowed dress to her own prom. "I don't recall that ever in my youth."

Hoffer also spent $50 on a ticket, $20 on shoes, $43 on a manicure and pedicure and $35 on makeup -- bringing her grand total to $627, of which she paid about two-thirds.

To save money, she used a free trial visit for a spray tan, had a friend's mom style her hair and drove herself to prom, unlike many of her classmates who she said spent hundreds on limos and party buses.

When Patti Manoogian, from Hackettstown, N.J., took her 17-year-old son Alex Galbreath to Men's Wearhouse, she wasn't expecting to pay more than $100 to rent a tux for prom night. But the designer Vera Wang tux her son picked out cost $200 to rent.

The school requires students to ride a bus to prom, which saves on limo costs, but once she adds on the $90 prom ticket, the corsage for his date and photos, the total bill will likely exceed $400. Other parents, she said, are spending much more.

"I love the idea that the kids have an opportunity to dress up like adults," she said. "But if we could take down the competition on what people look like, I think you could get the same nice adult evening for something that doesn't cost a mortgage payment."

For some families, the costs are especially daunting.

Families with household incomes below $50,000 a year plan to spend an average of $1,245 on prom this year, compared to $1,129 for those with incomes above $50,000, the Visa survey found. And single parents plan to spend $1,563, nearly double the amount of married parents.

Related: Bieber launches prepaid debit card

Noel D'Allacco founded the nonprofit Operation Prom to provide donated prom dresses to low-income teens nearly a decade ago. This year, the group expects to distribute more than 5,000 dresses nationally.

"Years ago we used to require a copy of their parents' tax return, but ever since 2009, we stopped doing that because chances are if you are coming there is some sort of financial need," she said.

A dialysis patient awaiting a kidney transplant, Brenda Cruz has been unable to find work for years. Living on monthly disability checks of less than $1,000 a month, the Brooklyn, N.Y. resident had no clue how to afford to send her 19-year-old daughter, Rachel Gantt, to senior prom in June.

But at Operation Prom's giveaway in Queens, Gantt was able to pick out a dress for free. Cruz is still worried about paying for shoes and a prom ticket, but she is determined that her daughter not miss out.

"I'm going to try everything I can," she said. "If that means that I can't pay rent for this month coming up so she can get her ticket, then I'm just going to have to do it and deal with the consequences later."

First Published: April 25, 2013: 6:42 AM ET

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Jobless claims fall, point to improving job market

After rising as high as 670,000 during the jobs crisis, weekly jobless claims are now at around half that level.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

About 339,000 people filed for their first week of unemployment benefits last week, down from 355,000 a week earlier, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The figure is slightly lower than expected. Economists had forecast jobless claims would fall to 351,000, according to Briefing.com.

The data can be choppy from week to week, but nevertheless, the initial claims report is considered one of the most important gauges of the job market's strength. During the height of the financial crisis in 2009, jobless claims rose as high as 670,000.

Now they're at half those levels, showing that fewer employers are laying off workers. That said, hiring hasn't necessarily been robust.

Meanwhile, about 3 million people filed for their second week or more of unemployment benefits two weeks ago, the most recent data available.

First Published: April 25, 2013: 8:57 AM ET

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Stocks move broadly higher

Click the chart for more stock market data.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6%, the S&P 500 added 0.7% and the Nasdaq gained 0.9%.

The U.S. government reported that initial jobless claims dropped to 339,000 in the latest week, significantly lower than the 351,000 claims that economists were predicting.

Trading has been choppy recently as investors take their cues from mixed economic data and company specific news. The year got off to a great start so some gyrating is to be expected, though most analysts still expect stocks to keep grinding higher.

In fact, all three indexes are still up between 9% to 13% so far this year as individual investors tentatively step back in. Investors poured $1.7 billion into U.S. stock mutual funds in the week ended April 17, according to the Investment Company Institute.

Earnings roll in: Exxon Mobil (XOM, Fortune 500) beat earnings forecasts but shares still fell in early trading. UPS (UPS, Fortune 500) also reported a jump in quarterly earnings.

Shares of Safeway (SWY, Fortune 500) tumbled nearly 17%, as investors focused on weaker-than-expected sales even though the grocer reported a higher quarterly profit.

Dow Chemical (DOW, Fortune 500) reported better-than-expected earnings, fueled by sales of agricultural products.

Shares of Zynga (ZNGA) fell nearly 7%, a day after the online gaming company issued a gloomy forecast.

3M (MMM, Fortune 500) was the biggest drag on the Dow, after the company missed profit and revenue expectations and lowered its 2013 earnings outlook.

Amazon (AMZN, Fortune 500) and Starbucks (SBUX, Fortune 500) report their results after the close.

Related: Fear & Greed Index idles in neutral

In other corporate news, Verizon Communications (VZ, Fortune 500) drew attention after Reuters reported the company had hired advisers to look at a possible $100 billion bid to take full control of Verizon Wireless from Vodafone Group (VOD). Vodafone declined to comment.

General Electric (GE, Fortune 500) edged higher, a day after finance subsidiary GE Capital decided to nix lending programs for gun purchases in the wake of last year's Newtown massacre.

Mixed action in overseas markets: European markets closed higher, following a report that the British economy dodged a triple-dip recession, according to preliminary estimates.

At the same time, Spanish unemployment rose a record to 27.2%, and European car sales sunk to their lowest level since the mid-1990s.

Related: Austerity debate rages in Europe

"With the eurozone recession deepening and global climate looking gloomy in general, I don't think many people are expecting UK growth to kick on from here," said Caxton FX analyst Richard Driver. "Major risks still hang over the UK economy but this certainly brightens the outlook for sterling a little."

Asian markets also ended mixed, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng gaining nearly 1% and Japan's Nikkei up 0.6%. The Shanghai Composite finished 0.9% weaker.

The dollar rose against the euro, but fell against the British and the Japanese yen.

Oil and gold prices jumped.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 1.72%.

First Published: April 25, 2013: 9:48 AM ET

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15-year mortgage rate hits record low

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The 15-year fixed rate fell to 2.61% this week from 2.64%, The previous record low of 2.63% was set the week of Nov. 21, 2012.

An adjustable-rate mortgage, the 5/1 ARM, also bottomed out at 2.58%. The most popular mortgage, the 30-year fixed-rate, came in at 3.4%, 0.09 percentage point above its record low.

"The housing market is getting a boost, with mortgage rates hovering at or near record lows," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie's chief economist.

He cited a pick-up in the pace of existing home sales to nearly 5 million a year during the first quarter of 2013, the most since the fourth quarter of 2009.

Related: 5 best markets to buy a home

The low 15-year rate meant that homeowners could book substantial savings by refinancing from their current 30-year fixed rates. Homeowners with 5% 30-year mortgages who switch to 2.6% loans 15-years would pay $21,000 in interest for every $100,000 borrowed over the course of the loan, compared with $93,000 in interest on the 30-year loan.

Related: 3 reasons the housing recovery may not last

About 75% of mortgage applications last week were for refinancings, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The low rates should draw even more buyers into a housing market that has already heated up considerably.

Calculator: Was my home a good investment?

"There's no better way to welcome the spring home-buying season," said Keith Gumbinger, vice president at HSH.com, a mortgage information company. "But [there's] not much inventory available. Some sellers may be holding out for higher prices before putting their homes on the market this spring."

First Published: April 25, 2013: 10:11 AM ET

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Spending cuts: Reality of furloughs hits home

So far, airport delays due to furloughs of air traffic controllers have mostly been centered around large airports in New York, Dallas, Chicago and Los Angeles (pictured above).

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Predictably, lawmakers are expressing outrage at the situation -- which both they and President Obama opened the door to when they agreed to the so-called sequester in the first place and then failed to reach agreement on how to replace it.

Set to unfold over the next few months, the cuts are like a "slow motion train wreck," said Steve Bell, senior director of the economic policy project at the Bipartisan Policy Center. "The pain will increase and become more and more apparent to the general public."

With the exception of countrywide airport delays, the most noticeable effects may be more local than national. The annual Fleet Week in New York City has been canceled, which will reduce expected city revenues. Towns and cities where the Department of Defense is a major employer or supplier of contracts may take a hit as civilian workers are furloughed without pay and local sub-contractors see their workload reduced.

And unless Congress acts to repeal or replace them, the spending cuts' effects could continue well past fiscal year 2013, which ends Sept. 30.

That's because defense and domestic spending will be subject to even lower spending caps than they are this year.

There is one important difference, however.

The sequester that went into effect on March 1 for 2013 required agencies for the most part to make across-the-board cuts without discretion, in essence cutting funding for the best and most essential functions by the same amount as everything else.

For fiscal year 2014, which starts Oct. 1, agencies will have more flexibility in how they allocate funding.

That may mean some agencies can do more to protect their workforce from furloughs or layoffs -- and taxpayers from disrupted services. But some might not be able to entirely.

But right now, the officials who run federal agencies don't have any clarity about what their exact budgets will be next year. Nor may they get much before Oct. 1.

That's because the budget process in Congress is -- surprise! -- stymied. The House and Senate have passed their own 2014 budget proposals, but they're $91 billion apart in spending and qualitatively they're very different.

Technically the two chambers are supposed to reconcile their differences, but there's been no real movement in that direction.

So, Bell said, there's a very good chance Congress will do what it often does: resort to passing a stopgap funding bill known as a continuing resolution to get through the first few months of fiscal year 2014.

Problem is, should Congress extend 2013 spending levels temporarily, that means federal agencies may end up having to make further reductions at some point next year so that their overall spending doesn't violate 2014 spending caps.

First Published: April 25, 2013: 11:53 AM ET

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Top-paying jobs are in engineering

Most top-paying degrees are in engineering, according to National Association of Colleges and Employers.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Seven of the top 10 highest-paid college degrees are in engineering, according to a report out Thursday from the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

Petroleum engineering majors are the highest paid, with starting salaries averaging $93,500, according to the association. That's at least $20,000 more than the average salary for computer engineers, who are the second-highest paid group on the list.

Other highly-paid engineering degrees are in the fields of chemical, aerospace, mechanical, electrical/electronic, communications and technology, with starting pay ranging from $62,200 to $67,600 per year.

"Engineering majors are consistently among the highest paid because the demand for them is so great," said association executive director Marilyn Mackes, in a press release.

Related: The best job you never thought of: Actuary

Computer science is the most lucrative non-engineering degree, with an average starting pay of $64,800. The only other non-engineering degrees placing in the top 10 for pay are managing information systems/business ($63,100) and finance ($57,400.)

President Obama has, at various times in his tenure, addressed the country's need for more engineers and engineering students to stimulate the U.S. economy. In his State of the Union address earlier this year, he said he wanted to "reward schools that develop partnerships with colleges and employers, and create classes that focus on science, technology, engineering and math - the skills today's employers are looking for to fill jobs right now and in the future."

There's definitely a need to improve the prospects of college-aged Americans. As a demographic they face a higher unemployment rate -- 13.3% -- compared to 7.6% for the general population. So are students answering the call for engineers?

Related: Job market worsens in Spain and Greece

Sort of. Engineering is the second most popular field of employment for college students entering the job market in 2013, according to the study. This category was rather broad, including professional, scientific and technical services, with average pay of $48,600.

Education was the most popular category, with more than 455,000 new college grads entering this year, even though average annual pay was less than $40,000.

Healthcare was in the third most popular industry, with average pay of about $42,600, according to the report.

First Published: April 25, 2013: 11:59 AM ET

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Chicago Board Options Exchange does not open

The Chicago Board Options Exchange did not open Thursday, for reasons that remain unexplained.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

"It did not open today," said CBOE (CBOE) spokeswoman Gail Osten.

She did not explain why the exchange didn't open, when asked by CNNMoney about reports of a technology glitch. Osten also didn't say when trading would resume.

Just days ago, on April 16, the exchange broke its record for volume, with 1,399,863 contracts changing hands.

The CBOE is the largest U.S. options exchange, offering options for stocks, indexes and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

On Friday, the exchange celebrates the 40th anniversary since its founding.

On that first day, April 26, 1973, 911 contracts were traded on 16 options listings. By 2012, annual volume had reached one billion contracts on 3,000 options listings.

First Published: April 25, 2013: 12:49 PM ET

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Jobless claims rise slightly

Initial claims rose 4,000 in the week ending April 13.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

About 352,000 people filed claims for their first week of jobless benefits, up from a revised 348,000 the week before, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The figure is slightly lower than expected. Economists had forecast the number to come in at 355,000, according to Briefing.com.

While the number is little changed from last week, it is usually a choppy statistic in March and April, when the Easter holiday and school spring breaks tend to distort the figures. The seasonal adjustment process gets trickier to account for, since the holiday and break fall on different weeks every year.

That's why before this week, claims had been on a roller-coaster ride. They fell dramatically last week after rising sharply a week earlier.

The four-week moving average -- which smooths out the volatility -- showed a smaller increase to 361,250 new claims.

In total, there were nearly 3.1 million filing for their second week or more of unemployment benefits two weeks ago, the most recent data available.

First Published: April 18, 2013: 9:13 AM ET

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Twitter launches music app

Twitter's new music service is set to debut on Thursday.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Twitter made the app available to every iPhone user via Apple's (AAPL, Fortune 500) iTunes App Store. Users will also be able to access the service on the Web later in the day at music.twitter.com. Twitter said an app for Google's (GOOG, Fortune 500) Android is coming soon.

The announcement of Twitter's music app was first made on ABC's "Good Morning America" program. The company launched the service last week exclusively to musicians.

Twitter's new app, which is separate from its primary social network, helps users find music based on the bands and artists they follow. The app suggests bands you might like, and it shows what music the people you follow are currently listening to. Users can also search popular music enjoyed by the universe of other app users, and Twitter surfaces what it calls "emerging" trends and artists.

Through partnerships with streaming music companies Rdio and Spotify, subscribers to those services can listen to music straight from Twitter's new app. They can also hear previews of music on iTunes and purchase songs, if they wish. Twitter said it will continue to add new music services to its app.

The app comes a week after Twitter announced it had purchased "We Are Hunted," an Australian music streaming and recommendation service.

Related story: Can Twitter become a multimedia powerhouse?

Twitter's dive into music is part of its new strategy to become more immersed in content delivery business. Bloomberg reported this week that Twitter is in final negotiations with media giants Viacom (VIA) and Comcast's (CMCSA) NBCUniversal to let the social network distribute TV clips from those companies' TV and cable networks and sell ads alongside them.

In January, Twitter launched Vine, a six-second video-sharing app.

First Published: April 18, 2013: 9:15 AM ET

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Nokia struggles with comeback bid

Nokia's CEO Stephen Elop is struggling to regain share of a smartphone market dominated by Apple and Samsung.

LONDON (CNNMoney)

The struggling Finnish smartphone maker reported a steep drop in first quarter sales as it continues lagging behind market leaders such as Samsung and Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500).

Nokia (NOK)'s revenue plunged by 20% to 5.85 billion euros compared to the first quarter the previous year, and revenue was down by 27% compared to the fourth quarter of 2012.

The drop in sales was twice as big as analysts anticipated and the shares fell as much as 16% before recovering to trade about 5% down.

Related: HTC's comeback hinges on fickle consumers

The company said it shipped 5.6 million Lumia handsets in the quarter -- a 27% increase compared to the last quarter of 2012. Nokia has been pinning its turnaround hopes on Lumia phones, which are powered by Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500)'s smartphone operating system.

However, Lumia represents only about 10% of the company's overall mobile phone portfolio and the jump in deliveries of the smartphone couldn't hide the fact that its two largest business units -- Devices & Services and Nokia Siemens Networks - lost sales at an alarming rate.

"Sentiment will now shift back to looking at Nokia as a collection of eroding assets alongside an as yet unproven product cycle," wrote Jefferies equity analyst Lee Simpson, referring to the company's second generation of the Lumia phone.

The company is still losing money though losses have narrowed significantly over the past year. It reported an operating loss of 150 million euros for the quarter, compared to a loss of 1.3 billion a year ago.

Back in 2006, Nokia controlled half of the smartphone market, but that was before Apple released its game-changing iPhone in 2007. The struggling company traded above $40 per share in late 2007 but its shares are now worth little more than $3.

First Published: April 18, 2013: 7:15 AM ET

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What type of consumer are you?

City Mixers tend to be single, city dwellers who shop at Banana Republic.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Using its massive database filled with personal data on shoppers and their buying behaviors, data giant Acxiom places each of the U.S. households it tracks into one of 70 categories, ranging from the wealthiest -- dubbed "Summit Estates" -- to the bottom of the income spectrum -- or "Resilient Renters."

According to Acxiom's marketing materials, the "clusters" allow "marketers to better know -- and anticipate -- their customers' demographics and buying behaviors." And the categories help retailers decide the location for a new store, for example, which television stations to advertise on, or which customers they should market a new product line to.

But critics say that the groupings can result in biases toward different shoppers, often based on socioeconomic factors like income.

"It's really being put into a box," said Pam Dixon, executive director of the World Privacy Forum. "And that's the problem."

Wondering where you fall? Here's how Acxiom describes various types of consumer households in its marketing materials:

Married Sophisticates: You're in your late 20s or early 30s, recently married and likely have a household income between $50,000 and $100,000. You probably own a home, most likely in an upscale suburban neighborhood. You're a fan of "green and trendy cars," shop at Banana Republic (GPS, Fortune 500) and The Gap (GPS, Fortune 500) and are a loyal Netflix Inc (NFLX) subscriber.

Truckin' & Stylin': You're in your 30s or 40s, live in a rural town and earn a moderate income. You may be married, but you don't have any children. You shop at stores like Wal-mart (WMT, Fortune 500) and AutoZone and enjoy watching NASCAR and classic shows on TV Land.

Collegiate Crowd: Between 18 and 23 years old, you're single and highly mobile. You're likely a renter and probably live in a college town. You buy clothes from American Eagle (AEO) and Express Inc (EXPR) and are a frequent liquor store patron. Your TV is tuned to Family Guy and you probably have copies of Rolling Stone and Us Weekly lying around.

Shooting Stars: You're in your 30s or 40s, married without any kids. You enjoy a six-figure household income and likely have a graduate degree. You shop at stores like Ann Taylor (ANN ) and Sephora, read magazines like Men's Health and Real Simple and use the web to check your stock investments and make travel plans.

Apple Pie Families: You're part of an upper-middle class family, likely living in a smaller city or nearby suburb. You probably drive a minivan. You shop at stores like Home Depot (HD, Fortune 500), Target (TGT, Fortune 500)and Best Buy (BBY, Fortune 500), read Sports Illustrated and listen to NPR.

City Mixers: You're a childless, single "urbanite" living in a city like New York, Los Angeles or Chicago. Well-educated, you likely enjoy museums and the theater. You buy groceries from Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, outfit your home with Crate & Barrel and buy clothes from Banana Republic. You read The New York Times (NYT) and watch The Office.

Related: Facebook uses offline purchases to target ads

Metro Parents: You're a single parent living in a city, likely on an income of less than $50,000. You shop at Kmart (SHLD, Fortune 500) and Payless ShoeSource, read magazines like Ebony and Seventeen and watch soap operas and BET.

Timeless Elders: You're a retiree, likely living alone on a modest income. You are active in your community, frequently clip coupons and shop primarily at discount stores like Kmart. Your favorite TV shows include The Price Is Right, Wheel of Fortune and 60 Minutes.

First Published: April 18, 2013: 9:54 AM ET

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What your zip code reveals about you

All that is needed to match the information data brokers compile with what you buy is your full name — obtained when you swipe a credit card — and a zip code, according to data privacy experts.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

That five-digit zip code is one of the key items data brokers use to link a wealth of public records to what you buy. They can figure out whether you're getting married (or divorced), selling your home, smoke cigarettes, sending a kid off to college or about to have one.

Such information is the cornerstone of a multi-billion dollar industry that enables retailers to target consumers with advertising and coupons. Yet, data privacy experts are concerned about the level at which consumers are being tracked without their knowledge -- and what would happen if that data got into the wrong hands.

Acxiom, one of the biggest data brokers in the business, claims to have a database that holds information -- including one's age, marital status, education level, political leanings, hobbies and income level -- on 190 million individuals. Major competitors, like Datalogix and CoreLogic, tout similarly vast databases.

In most cases, all that is needed to match the information these data brokers compile with what you buy is your full name — obtained when you swipe a credit card — and a zip code, according to data privacy experts. This allows them to figure out that you are the Sally Smith who lives in Butte, Mont., not the one who lives in Denver, for example.

"For the majority of the country, the zip code is going to be the piece of the puzzle that is going to enable a merchant to identify you," said Paul Stephens, director of policy and advocacy at the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.

Related: Your phone company is selling your personal data

Once a retailer identifies you, it can track and analyze your spending behaviors and background in order to predict what you might buy next. In the data world, this is often called predictive analysis or predictive modeling.

Buying a bunch of maternity clothes? You must be expecting. Stocking up on diapers and baby food? The baby must have been born, which means you're a new parent now. Buying clothes in larger sizes? You could end up classified as an overweight or obese consumer. And so on.

Some retailers sell this information back to the data brokers which then sell it to other companies -- including retailers, banks, credit card issuers, airlines, hotels, auto manufacturers and even Facebook -- in a seemingly never-ending cycle.

"Some of these data brokers know us better than we know ourselves," said Pam Dixon, executive director of the World Privacy Forum.

Related: What type of consumer are you?

Of course, you typically don't have to give your zip code to a cashier. Last month, the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that zip codes are "personal" information under state consumer privacy laws, after Melissa Tyler sued craft store Michaels for using her zip code to find her and send store mailings. She had thought the zip code was required to complete her credit card transaction, according to the suit.

Now retailers in the state can't ask for your zip code for marketing purposes -- joining California, which had a similar court case.

You often have the right to "opt out" of letting data brokers and other companies share certain information they've gathered about you, but few people do so, said Dixon.

The Federal Trade Commission is requiring the nine major data brokers to explain how they collect, store and use consumer data. Major data firms have noted that they don't reveal sensitive information, like Social Security or driver's license numbers. Still, the agency is concerned that brokers' databases could be hacked, creating identity theft risks.

Currently, data brokers are required by federal law to maintain the privacy of a consumer's data only if it is used for credit, employment, insurance or housing.

But there are some gray areas. Medical records and prescription purchases are off limits, but data brokers are allowed to track purchases of over-the-counter drugs and other related medical items, as well as web searches and medical surveys that consumers fill out online, said Dixon.

That has allowed Acxiom to create a "health interest" category, which highlights consumers with "interests related to" health conditions, such as arthritis and diabetes. In a letter to Congress, Acxiom officials noted that they do not collect data about sensitive health conditions, such as sexually transmitted diseases.

Related: Banks sell consumer shopping data to retailers

The National Retail Federation, an industry trade group, argues that the data collection allows retailers to better target their marketing campaigns, ultimately benefiting consumers.

Because "discounts are sent to a relatively small group, rather than to an entire neighborhood, the merchant saves money and can afford to give its likely customers bigger or more frequent reductions," Mallory Duncan, senior vice president and general counsel for the NRF, said in a statement.

Privacy advocates counter that consumers should at least be more aware how they are being tracked.

"There is nothing wrong with advertising," Dixon said. "The problem is when we don't know our information is being used."

First Published: April 18, 2013: 6:15 AM ET

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Morgan Stanley earnings worry investors

Shares of Morgan Stanley are up 12% in 2013.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The bank's burgeoning wealth management division logged strong gains, but sharp declines from its trading division rattled investors.

Investors also didn't seem to care that the bank beat analysts' forecasts for both profits and revenues.

Shares fell nearly 4% in early trading.

Related: Bank of America disappoints investors

As part of a major renovation of its banking business to move away from the risky behavior that nearly felled the bank during the financial crisis, Morgan Stanley has been building out its brokerage arm that caters to retail investors.

Morgan Stanley is in the process of buying the rest of what was once the brokerage firm Smith Barney from Citigroup. The two banks had operated the brokerage firm as a joint venture since Morgan Stanley purchased a stake in 2009.

Investors worry that profits and revenues in the brokerage business won't be enough to offset potential declines if Morgan Stanley's investment banking franchise and its trading business slip.

"What is Morgan Stanley giving up in trying to dominate the retail side of the business?" questioned Guggenheim analyst Marty Mosby.

Breaking down the balance sheet. Morgan Stanley earned $1.2 billion, or 61 cents per share, on $8.5 billion in net revenues in the first quarter.

Revenues in the wealth management division rose by 5%, while profits jumped 48% from a year earlier.

But trading revenue overall fell 32% from the previous year, with debt trading falling sharply.

Those declines were partially offset by investment banking revenues, which rose from a year earlier, helped by bond and loan underwriting.

Related: Goldman Sachs earnings were good. Too good?

Looking ahead, CEO James Gorman was more sanguine than many of his banking peers about the health of the global economy.

"We believe the broad economic outlook for the next several years is stronger than in the recent past," said Gorman in a statement, though he acknowledged "the global environment continues to have moments of fragility."

Morgan Stanley (MS, Fortune 500) is the last major bank to report first quarter results. Bank earnings from Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500),Goldman Sachs (GS, Fortune 500),JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500), andWells Fargo (WFC, Fortune 500) have been mixed to poor. Only Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) managed to please investors.

First Published: April 18, 2013: 8:09 AM ET

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Stocks continue to retreat

Click the chart for more stock market data.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 declined 0.3% while the Nasdaq dropped 0.5%.

Financial and technology stocks were big laggards.

Morgan Stanley's (MS, Fortune 500) reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue, but weakness in traditional trading revenue pushed shares down 4%. Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500), which tumbled nearly 5% Wednesday after missing first-quarter earnings estimates, sank another 3% Thursday, making it the biggest loser on the Dow.

Related: Fear and Greed Index flashing fear signals

On the tech front, Nokia's (NOK) stock price dropped 12% after the Finnish cell phone company reported a 20% drop in quarterly sales.

eBay (EBAY, Fortune 500) shares were the biggest drag on the Nasdaq, falling 4% after the online-auction site issued weak second-quarter guidance. And while SanDisk (SNDK, Fortune 500) reported better-than-expected earnings and sales for the first-quarter, shares of the company also declined 3%.

Apple's (AAPL, Fortune 500) shares remained under pressure a day after its stock fell nearly 6%. Shares fell to $395.27, the lowest since November 2011. Apple was most recently hampered by a negative sales forecast from iPhone supplier Cirrus Logic (CRUS).

Techs will remain in focus, as IBM (IBM, Fortune 500), Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) and Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) are all scheduled to report earnings after the close.

While technology stocks were largely weighing on the broader market, Verizon (VZ, Fortune 500) was bucking the trend. Shares of the company jumped more than 3% after it beat earnings forecasts.

Also on the bright side, PepsiCo (PEP, Fortune 500) shares climbed 5% on better-than-expected quarterly earnings.

Shares of Carnival Corp.'s (CCL) rose after the cruise ship company said it planned to invest more than $600 million into fixing its disaster-prone toilets.

Related: I lost $50K in Bitcoin crash, but I'm still a believer

In economic news, the government said initial jobless claims increased by 4,000 to 352,000 in the week ended April 13. That was slightly below forecasts.

European markets rose in afternoon trading, as the German parliament reportedly backed a €10 billion bailout for Cyprus.

Asian markets ended mixed. The Shanghai Composite added 0.2%, while the Hang Seng declined 0.4% and the Nikkei lost 1.2%.

The dollar fell against the euro and the pound, but edged higher versus the Japanese yen.

Oil and gold prices edged higher.

The price on the 10-year Treasury rose, pushing the yield down to 1.69% from 1.70% late Wednesday.

First Published: April 18, 2013: 9:45 AM ET

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Time for world to kick cheap money habit?

Click image for interactive on world's largest economies

LONDON (CNNMoney)

And much of the world is hooked on cheap central bank money.

That is the backdrop as finance officials from the world's leading nations meet on Thursday and Friday in Washington to debate what's next.

Among other things, they are expected to examine the risks of continuing to flood markets with cash. But they are likely to conclude that there's no alternative, for now.

Related: Debt's impact on growth: the debate rages

Austerity measures are sapping demand in many major economies. That leaves them reliant on ultra-loose monetary policy to promote activity -- a dependency that some fear is slowing the pace of reform, distorting currency and other markets and storing up future trouble in the form of asset price bubbles.

"There are some risks associated with some of the decisions that have been taken but my sense is the benefits far exceed the risks or the costs," International Monetary Fund chief economist Olivier Blanchard said this week in an interview with CNN.

The IMF cut its global growth forecast to 3.3% Tuesday, downgrading most countries.

Related: World's largest economies

The exception was Japan, which is now expected to grow by 1.6%, up from 1.2% just three months ago. The reason for Japan's turnaround is a bold combination of aggressive monetary stimulus and increased government spending launched by recently-elected Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Meanwhile, forced spending cuts will slow growth in the U.S., and a lack of demand in the eurozone will ensure a second consecutive year of recession.

Weaker than expected first-quarter growth in China leaves Japan as a rare bright spot, but its policies are being closely watched for any indication that they may spark a currency war.

Japan is planning to inject $1.4 trillion into its economy over two years by buying bonds and other securities in a bid to end deflation and years of stagnant growth. The yen has fallen 27% in the last six months, and the country's major trading partners are paying attention.

The U.S. Treasury Department last week struck a cautionary tone in its semi-annual report on currency practices.

"We will continue to press Japan to adhere to the commitments agreed to in the G7 and G20, to remain oriented towards meeting respective domestic objectives using domestic instruments and to refrain from competitive devaluation and targeting its exchange rate for competitive purposes," the report said.

Other recent comments from the European Central Bank, U.S. Federal Reserve and IMF suggest Japan is staying just the right side of the line.

"This may raise some expectation that recent yen weakness may not be center stage at the upcoming G20 finance ministers and central bankers meeting," noted fixed income strategists at Japanese investment bank Nomura.

First Published: April 18, 2013: 7:48 AM ET

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Verizon iPhone sales tumble 33%

Verizon's first-quarter iPhone sales fell by a third over the fourth quarter.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Verizon's iPhone activations fell 33% in the first quarter, compared to the fourth quarter. Though the first quarter can serve as a tough comparison to the prior three months -- the stretch each year during which Apple typically releases its new smartphones -- the drop is considerably steeper this time than it was last year.

Last year, Verizon's first-quarter iPhone activations fell by 24% from the fourth quarter.

The nation's largest wireless carrier said it activated 4 million iPhones over the past three months, 2 million fewer than the 6 million it sold between September and December 2012.

Verizon (VZ, Fortune 500) said just over half (55%) of the 7.2 million smartphones it activated last quarter were iPhones. That's down from 64% in the previous quarter.

That doesn't spell doom for the iPhone -- year-over-year, Verizon's iPhone activations grew by 25%. But there is cause for Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) to be concerned.

Related story: The iPhone 5 may be Apple's last blowout U.S. bestseller

Just half of Verizon customers who bought iPhones during the first quarter bought the latest model, the iPhone 5.

The steep $100 and $200 discounts on Apple's older devices, the iPhone 4S and iPhone 4, are the likely culprit. Though each new version has brought some helpful tweaks -- including faster processors, larger screens and the Siri voice-controlled assistant -- the iPhone 5 isn't dramatically different from the iPhone 4, which was released in 2010.

Apple, which will report its quarterly results on April 23, has disappointed Wall Street investors lately with lower-than-expected iPhone sales -- even as it sold a record 48 million of the devices in the fourth quarter. In the market-share battle, Apple still trails smartphones running Google's Android smartphone operating system by a wide margin.

It's also possible that customers are becoming smarter about when to buy the iPhone. Apple has consistently released its new smartphone in the late summer or early fall, and consumers seem to be catching onto that trend. IPhones are now setting records in the fourth quarter, then taking an increasingly steep quarter-over-quarter dive in the first three months of the new year, when other device makers begin to show off their new toys.

Related story: Apple needs the iTV soon

The beneficiary of this trend appears to be the wireless carriers. Carriers pay more money upfront to Apple to subsidize the iPhone than they pay other smartphone makers for rival devices.

Verizon reported a 50.4% wireless profit margin in the first quarter, up sharply from its recent low of 41.4% margin in the fourth quarter. When it sells fewer iPhones, Verizon performs better -- in the near-term, anyway.

That's been the trend for Sprint (S, Fortune 500) and AT&T (T, Fortune 500) as well. Both of Verizon's prime rivals will report their quarterly finances next week. T-Mobile also began selling the iPhone for the first time this month.

First Published: April 18, 2013: 10:51 AM ET

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First look at Twitter #Music app: Find trending tunes

The Twitter Music app is centered around four main pages: Popular, Emerging, Suggested, and Now Playing.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Dubbed Twitter #Music (of course), the service suggests new music to its users in a uniquely social way.

Twitter Music launched as a separate app on Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) iOS devices on Thursday morning, and it's slated to become available at music.twitter.com later in the day. It's a fun, mildly interesting diversion -- but Twitter faces a lot of competition in the already saturated streaming-music market.

The Twitter Music app is smartly designed, and it's extremely easy to navigate the lists of suggested artists. Simply tap a photo tile to play a clip through iTunes, or connect your Spotify or Rdio account to play full tracks. You can opt to play just one song or artist, or run through an entire playlist of everything on a given page.

Tiny controls are housed in the lower left corner of the app, and you can tap to enlarge them and tweet out what you're listening to.

Related story: Can Twitter become a multimedia powerhouse?

Music discovery works in four different tabs: Popular, Emerging, Suggested, and Now Playing.

"Popular" simply shows the artists currently trending on Twitter overall. "Emerging" displays up-and coming artists. It's unclear how Twitter culls the emerging list, as the description at the top of the page simply says "hidden talent found in the Tweets."

Both the Popular and Emerging pages display 140 artists, a cute reference to the fact that tweets can be a maximum of 140 characters.

The other two main pages are personalized to each user. "Suggested" lists artists you might like, based on the musical artists you follow on Twitter. And "#NowPlaying" compiles the music your friends on Twitter are tweeting about. Simply tap one of the tiles, and you'll see which of the people you follow on Twitter posted a particular song, as well as when they did so.

Another cool feature on #NowPlaying: As you scroll, a tiny photo of the Twitter user who played the song appears in the left hand corner of the tile, and as soon as you pick up your finger those avatars disappear.

Finally, the app also provides you with a version of your own profile page, which shows your Twitter bio and follower stats at the top. The list of musical artists you follow on Twitter appears at the bottom. As on the other app pages, you can tap to play a song by those artists.

Or you can visit the artist's Twitter profile page to see which artists they follow. A search bar at the top of each app page lets you find other artists' pages, where you can opt to follow them on Twitter or simply check out the artists they follow.

That's an intriguing way to find new music and pick the brain of your favorite artist. But an option to follow artists in the Music app only would be appealing. I use my Twitter account mainly for work, so my follow list is a mix of tech analysts, reporters, bloggers, and newspapers; I follow very few musical artists.

While I might like to see which artists a favorite musician of mine follows, I might not want to see their daily tweets. The app and web service are segmented off from the main Twitter experience -- why not take advantage of that?

That separate setup may turn off some users from Twitter #Music. Although it's fun and easy to use, it's still yet another app or browser tab for users to open. If there were a way to integrate #Music seamlessly into the daily Twitter experience, users wouldn't be forced to actively choose #Music over the dozens of services already out there.

First Published: April 18, 2013: 12:34 PM ET

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The running of the bull

Market indexes are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer LIBOR Warning: Neither BBA Enterprises Limited, nor the BBA LIBOR Contributor Banks, nor Reuters, can be held liable for any irregularity or inaccuracy of BBA LIBOR. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2013 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Disclaimer The Dow Jones Indexes^SM are proprietary to and distributed by Dow Jones & Company, Inc. and have been licensed for use. All content of the Dow Jones Indexes^SM © 2013 is proprietary to Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Chicago Mercantile Association. The market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2013. All rights reserved. Most stock quote data provided by BATS.

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Fracking comes to China

Market indexes are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer LIBOR Warning: Neither BBA Enterprises Limited, nor the BBA LIBOR Contributor Banks, nor Reuters, can be held liable for any irregularity or inaccuracy of BBA LIBOR. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2013 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Disclaimer The Dow Jones Indexes^SM are proprietary to and distributed by Dow Jones & Company, Inc. and have been licensed for use. All content of the Dow Jones Indexes^SM © 2013 is proprietary to Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Chicago Mercantile Association. The market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2013. All rights reserved. Most stock quote data provided by BATS.

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Dean Kamen's new machines

Market indexes are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer LIBOR Warning: Neither BBA Enterprises Limited, nor the BBA LIBOR Contributor Banks, nor Reuters, can be held liable for any irregularity or inaccuracy of BBA LIBOR. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2013 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Disclaimer The Dow Jones Indexes^SM are proprietary to and distributed by Dow Jones & Company, Inc. and have been licensed for use. All content of the Dow Jones Indexes^SM © 2013 is proprietary to Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Chicago Mercantile Association. The market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2013. All rights reserved. Most stock quote data provided by BATS.

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Zuckerberg kicks off tech lobbying push on immigration

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is among the tech leaders joining to form a public interest group.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The group, named FWD.us, and pronounced as Forward US, is pushing for a significant increase in legal immigration and a path to citizenship, especially for those educated here or who came to the country as children.

It also wants to see education reform, including higher standards in schools, financial support for good teachers, a greater focus on science and math instruction, and greater investment in scientific research.

Zuckerberg announced the new group in an Op-Ed column in the Washington Post Thursday.

Related: Zuckerberg's new advocacy venture faces an uphill battle in DC

"In a knowledge economy, the most important resources are the talented people we educate and attract to our country. A knowledge economy can scale further, create better jobs and provide a higher quality of living for everyone in our nation," he wrote in the column.

Among the issues he raised in the piece are that the annual supply of H1-B visas used by highly skilled foreign workers runs out within days of them being made available, even though he says that each of those jobs will create two or three more U.S. jobs.

Related: Immigrant job creator faces deportation

Other founders of the group include Reid Hoffman, co-founder and chairman of LinkedIn (LNKD), and John Doerr, general partner at tech venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins. Joe Green, who is co-founder of the community and political organizing software NationBuilder, is the president of FWD.us.

Other tech executives supporting the effort include Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google (GOOG, Fortune 500); Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo (YHOO, Fortune 500); Reed Hastings, founder and CEO of Netflix (NFLX); Mark Pincus, founder and CEO of Zynga (ZNGA); and Elon Musk, CEO of both Space X and Tesla Motors (TSLA).

The group has hired a bipartisan staff of experienced political operatives. They include Rob Jesmer, the former head of National Republican Senatorial Committee, who will serve as campaign manager for the group, and Alida Garcia, who was National Latino Vote Deputy Director for President Obama's re-election campaign and will serve as coalitions and policy director.

The group is a 501(c)(3) organization, which means unlike a political action committee it will not need to disclose its contributors, even though it can engage in lobbying and support political candidates.

First Published: April 11, 2013: 7:42 AM ET

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Rich give back more to U.K. universities

Cambridge university and other U.K. institutions are getting record donations from philanthropists.

LONDON (CNNMoney)

Higher education institutions across the U.K. raked in a record £774 million ($1.2 billion) in fundraising during the 2011-2012 academic year, according to a new survey. Fundraising was up by 14% compared to the previous year, and by 33% compared to 2009-2010.

Results from the Ross-CASE survey show that universities in the U.K. spent more on their fundraising campaigns and hired more fundraising staff, resulting in higher overall donation levels and a larger number of donors. There were 213,000 donors in 2011-2012, compared to 201,000 donors in the previous year.

"This is a hugely exciting result for the higher education sector. We have seen a second consecutive year of an all-time high in new funds secured," said Tania Jane Rawlinson, chair of the Ross Group, which commissioned the study.

Large donations from particularly generous philanthropists helped drive the record intake, she said.

Related: Class of 2013 faces grim job prospects

The record donations come against a backdrop of stagnant economic growth in the U.K. and government cuts to university funding.

But these results are still light years away from the undisputed fundraising leader, the United States. Higher education institutions in the U.S. raised $31 billion in 2012, according to a survey by the Council for Aid to Education. However, U.S. fundraising for the sector only grew by 2%, which was roughly in line with inflation.

The renowned Oxford and Cambridge universities continued to receive the bulk of donations, according to Ross-CASE survey. These two universities pulled in 45% of all U.K. fundraising, and each recently finished raising more than £1 billion in multi-year campaigns.

Oxford, Cambridge, University College London and Imperial College London in the U.K. often rank among the world's top universities.

First Published: April 11, 2013: 9:10 AM ET

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Jobless claims point to fewer layoffs

Jobless claims are chopping around near levels last seen in early 2008, pointing to fewer layoffs than in the crisis years.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

That volatility isn't unusual for March and April, when the Easter holiday and school spring breaks tend to distort the figures.

About 346,000 people filed claims for their first week of jobless benefits last week, down from a revised 388,000 the week before, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The figure was better than expected. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com were expecting the report to show 365,000 people filed initial claims last week.

The claims data is adjusted to account for seasonal trends, but because the Easter holiday and spring breaks can fall on different weeks every year, the numbers are often choppy in March and April. In many states, school contractors are allowed to file for unemployment benefits any time school is out of session.

Some bus drivers and cafeteria workers, for example, will file for unemployment benefits during spring breaks.

"The floating nature of the Easter holiday and the timing of spring breaks at schools generate difficulties in the seasonal adjustment process," said Thomas Simons, money market economist for Jefferies & Co. "It is not unusual to see increased volatility in this series at this point in the year."

Smoothing out some of the choppiness shows new claims have averaged around 358,000 over the past four weeks -- a level that is consistent with weekly claims in late 2007 and early 2008, before the worst of the recession.

Jobless claims are closely correlated with layoffs. The numbers indicate that firms seem to be maintaining their existing workforces. Other data from the Labor Department, released earlier this week, also back up that layoffs are back to pre-recession levels.

Related: Firms are firing less, but not hiring enough

Whether firms are accelerating new hiring though is still a big question mark. They may be firing fewer workers. But that won't be enough to bring the unemployment rate down substantially from its current level of 7.6%.

The jobless claims report also showed 3.1 million people filed for their second week or more of unemployment benefits last week.

First Published: April 11, 2013: 8:43 AM ET

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Seniors say, 'We can't afford Social Security cuts'

Howard Lowett, 81, and his wife Phyllis rely on Social Security for all of their income.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

That sentiment was echoed again and again in scores of e-mails sent to CNNMoney about President Obama's proposal to reduce cost of living adjustments for Social Security.

In his budget released Wednesday, the president proposed basing the way the annual increases are calculated on "chained CPI," which grows more slowly than the current inflation measure. That would mean that seniors would get smaller bumps in their Social Security payments each year.

Though the difference would be relatively small at first, it would grow into hundreds or even thousands of dollars over time. That can be quite a hit for many seniors -- nearly two-thirds of recipients rely on Social Security for at least 50% of their income. And Social Security makes up at least 90% of the income received by just over one-third of seniors.

Seniors wrote in that they depend on the entitlement checks to pay for housing, food and utilities. Some feared they'd have to go back to work in their 70s or 80s if their annual increases shrunk. Others said they'd reluctantly have to turn to public assistance or relatives for help.

Related: Obama's tax agenda

Howard Lowett, 81, and his wife, Phyllis, live off the $2,000 they receive in Social Security every month. Though Lowett worked until six years ago, the couple has very little savings left after caring for a disabled son.

"Any reduction in benefits would be a disaster to us," said Lowett, who lives in Holtsville, N.Y. "It would chip away at our income little by little."

Nearly 40 million retirees and their dependents receive Social Security. The average monthly benefit is $1,262, but many writing into CNNMoney said they are living off far smaller checks.

Kerry Payne of Newburgh, N.Y., had to give up her car because she couldn't afford the rising cost of gas and insurance. Her $1,234 monthly check barely covers her expenses. Nearly all of her savings went to care for her husband, who died after a long illness. So she scrimps to get by, doing her grocery shopping on Wednesday evenings, for example, because her local supermarket offers a 10% discount then.

"We need those increases every year," said Payne, 67, of the cost of living adjustment. "Everything else goes up."

Seniors were also furious with Obama, saying he is reneging on his promise not to touch Social Security. More than a few suggested politicians in Washington should cut their salaries before slicing the benefits of the elderly.

"I doubt that one government official can begin to live on what the average senior citizen does," wrote one 77-year-old woman. "I hope that Pres. Obama truly understands the dire straits that his plan could cause senior citizens."

First Published: April 11, 2013: 10:05 AM ET

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HP and Microsoft tumble after worst PC sales drop

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Hewlett-Packard's (HPQ, Fortune 500) stock fell more than 6%, and Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) and Dell (DELL, Fortune 500) both fell by about 1%. Shares of Intel (INTC, Fortune 500) sank 3% and rival AMD (AMD, Fortune 500) dropped by 5%.

Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500), shares of which were downgraded to "sell" by Goldman Sachs Thursday morning, fell by 4%.

Shipments of PCs fell 14% worldwide last quarter, according to IDC. It was the worst yearly decline since IDC began tracking the data in 1994.

The drop in PC shipments was nearly twice as bad as the 7.7% decline IDC expected, and it marked the fourth consecutive quarter in which PC shipments fell year-over-year.

Gartner, another technology consultancy, posted similar figures on Wednesday. The analysis firm said 79 million PCs were shipped worldwide in the first quarter -- the fewest number of shipments since the second quarter of 2009.

PC industry titans have tried to innovate themselves out of their sales slump, but recent attempts have failed. Ultrabooks, super-thin notebook computers, debuted to great fanfare in 2011. But sales disappointed, and firms quickly slashed their ultrabook sales forecasts.

In October 2012, Microsoft debuted Windows 8, which received mixed reviews, and sales have been muted compared with past Windows launches.

Bob O'Donnell, a vice president at IDC, said in the company's report that "the Windows 8 launch not only failed to provide a positive boost to the PC market, but appears to have slowed the market."

He slammed WIndows 8's "radical changes" to the user interface, particularly the removal of the iconic start button, and intimated that the switch is confusing for customers.

"Microsoft will have to make some very tough decisions moving forward if it wants to help reinvigorate the PC market," O'Donnell said in the report.

First Published: April 11, 2013: 9:46 AM ET

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Dow and S&P 500 hover near record highs

Click the chart for more premarket data.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The Dow Industrial Average and S&P 500 rose about 0.3%, while the Nasdaq was flat.

The Dow is now just 1% away from 15,000 and the S&P 500 is 0.5% away from 1,600. Both indexes closed at fresh record highs Wednesday.

Analysts said that investors are eager to be a part of the rally, which has fueled the market to keep chugging higher.

"It's a market that's climbed the walls of worry. When there are pullbacks, the market rebounds quickly," said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer at Solaris Asset Management.

Ghriskey said that tech stocks could keep markets from reaching new highs Thursday. Shares of PC companies extended the prior day's sell-off following news that PC sales fell 14% worldwide last quarter.

Shares of Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500), Intel (INTC, Fortune 500) and Hewlett-Packard (HPQ, Fortune 500) fell between 3% and 7%.

On the economic front, investors largely shrugged off a better-than-expected weekly report on initial jobless claims.

Retailers were also reporting a mixed bag of February same-store sales -- a key metric used to gauge consumer spending.

Sales at Costco (COST, Fortune 500) rose 4%, missing forecasts, while Gap (GPS, Fortune 500) reported same-store sales that rose a better-than-expected 3% in the latest month.

Shares of Yum Brands (YUM, Fortune 500) were slightly higher after falling in premarket trading. The restaurant operator revealed that its same-store sales in China dropped in March amid an ongoing food safety scandal.

Despite the company's recall of 1.7 million vehicles because of airbag defects, Toyota (TM) shares rose. Honda (HMC) shares also gained, even after the automaker said it was recalling 1.1 million vehicles with airbag problems. Shares of airbag supplier Takata Corp closed down 9% in Tokyo.

Related: Fear & Greed Index heads back into greed

Meanwhile, corporate results continue to roll in.

Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY, Fortune 500) reported earnings in line with estimates, but better-than-expected revenue helped push the retailer's shares higher..

Drugstore chain Rite Aid (RAD, Fortune 500) swung to a profit in the latest quarter, trouncing forecasts and sending shares up 19%.

The first of the big banks, JPMorgan (JPM, Fortune 500) and Wells Fargo (WFC, Fortune 500), will report their results ahead of the opening bell Friday.

Related: Wall Street sours on gold

European markets closed higher in Thursday, supported by Wall Street's record-breaking run.

Asian markets also ended higher. The Shanghai Composite added 0.1%, the Hang Seng increased 0.3% and the Nikkei jumped 2%.

Oil prices were lower, while gold prices were slightly higher.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 1.79% from 1.81% Tuesday.

First Published: April 11, 2013: 9:53 AM ET

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