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Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check - May 29, 2013
May 29, 2013
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The President at play:
Democrats like to say that BILL CLINTON presided over the largest percentage gain in the S&P 500 of any president. Too bad it's not true anymore.
Wall Street's major indexes soared yesterday after U-S home prices saw their best annual rise in seven years (see below), and consumer confidence got another boost. But even before those stock-market gains, PRESIDENT OBAMA is already in rare company when it comes to Wall Street returns.
According to the NY Times, "In the 84 years that the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index has been calculated, it doubled during the terms of only four presidents before Barack Obama's election in 2008. This month that number rose to five as the index climbed to more than twice what it was when he took office.
"Through Friday," noted The Times, "more than 52 months after he took office, the index was up 105 percent during his term in office, for a compound annual gain of 18 percent." Under Clinton, the percentage gain was 15 percent. Under Reagan, 10 percent. (Maiman)The Internet:
A new survey of four-thousand women around the world by AVG Technologies finds that 19 percent of women ages 18-25 said they have ended a relationship by posting on Facebook; 38 percent of women in the same age-range said they have broken up via text message. (Kaye)
Idle gossip & unconfirmed rumors:
KIM KARDASHIAN seems to think giving birth will be more like a spa day than hard labor. The National Enquirer reports the reality darling and KANYE WEST have booked a private birthing suite at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles that features a soaking tub, two beds, a sitting room, flat-screen television and are having it decked out with dozens of white roses. If that's not enough, she's hired a personal photographer to document the experience, has her hairstylist on standby, plans to order takeout from Ruth's Chris Steak House and wear $25-thousand dollars in lingerie around the maternity ward. (Lee)
Looking twice:
A suburban Chicago school is up for a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Highcrest Middle School in Wilmette, Illinois, has 23 sets of twins all in the same grade. The twins represent about 10-percent of the school's fifth-grade class.
The previous record is held by three schools that each have 16 sets of twins. (Still)The Reel Deal:
"Iron Man 3" is now the fifth top-grossing film of all time, with over $1.14 billion dollars in box office receipts.
The top five, from Box Office Mojo:
5. "Iron Man 3," $1.15 billion
4. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2," $1.34 billion
3. "The Avengers," $1.51 billion
2. "Titanic," $2.19 billion
1. "Avatar," $2.78 billion
FYI: The film beat out "Transformers: Dark of the Moon"," which is now in sixth place. However, when adjusted for inflation, "Titanic" is just #5; "Gone With the Wind" is number one, followed by "Star Wars," "The Sound of Music," and "ET." -
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