US stocks surged over the week on reduced inflation concerns. The S&P 500 rose 2.4% and the Dow gained 2.3% for the week. Abroad, Japan climbed 1.3% and Europe was up 1.4% for the week. The yield on the 10-year Treasury ended the week at 2.97%, up slightly over the past week, but has gained over five of the past six weeks. Oil ended the week at $70.70 a barrel on concerns over renewal of sanctions on Iran. Article
Core CPI rose just 0.1% in April, less than economists were expecting.
RBS agreed to a $4.9B settlement with the Dept. of Justice over its involvement in mortgage crisis.
Of the 85% of S&P 500 companies that have reported earnings so far, the firms have bought back $158 billion of their own stock. It is on pace for the biggest amount in any quarter since the data was first tracked. Article