Quote of the Day

"Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it. The man who knows how will always have a job." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson


Morning news of note:

FRE FNM: Fannie, Freddie: Give and Take Bill Would Strengthen Oversight But Expand Firms' Prospects For nearly two years, the White House has been pushing for tighter constraints on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the giant government-sponsored providers of funds for home mortgage loans. Yet legislation approved Wednesday by the House Financial Services Committee wouldn't shackle them as the White House wants. The bill would create a new, stronger regulator to supervise the companies, both of which are recovering from accounting scandals (Full Story) WSJ

ATK: Alliant = Defense + Technology + Growth AS INVESTORS INCREASINGLY TURN to growth stocks to fire up their portfolios, they're buying technology again, while also looking more kindly on the stability that comes from groups like defense. "What has done well for the last couple of years is value [investing], and now it is certainly looking like growth is starting to pick up," says Thomas Moore, head of investment management at HSBC Private Bank. "At some point, we would like to think technology gets some traction." One stock that combines both technology and defense and also looks reasonably priced is Alliant Techsystems. (Full Story) BARRONS

Consumer Spending: U.S. Consumer Spending Probably Rose 0.8% in April, Survey Says U.S. consumer spending probably rose in April at the fastest pace of the year, boosted by job growth, economists said before a government report today. The Commerce Department is expected to report a 0.8 percent increase in spending, according to the median of 66 estimates in a survey by Bloomberg News. Spending rose 0.6 percent in March. Incomes probably increased 0.7 percent after a 0.5 percent gain. (Full Story) Bloomberg

Hedge Funds: Hedge Funds Are Stumbling but Manager Salaries Aren't At hedge funds, the rich just keep getting richer. Across Wall Street, fees for businesses from trading stocks to investing in mutual funds have been falling. But at hedge funds, those exclusive investment partnerships for the wealthy and institutions like pension funds, fees have stayed dizzyingly high, even as billions of dollars have poured into the industry and performance, on average, has faltered. Last year, the top-paid hedge fund manager, Edward S. Lampert of ESL Investments, earned $1 billion, according to a survey to be released today by Alpha, a magazine published by Institutional Investor that follows hedge funds. (Full Story) NY Times

The market powered higher yesterday, on the heels of the upwardly revised GDP report (+3.5%). The SPX came thisclose to the 1200 level. This market looks like it has an agenda - to get back to this year's highs. I still expect some modest backing and filling, but would still focus on being long this market.