MID-DAY UPDATE: British get their royal wedding, consumer spending is up in March
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Here are today’s top headlines from the Marketplace Morning Report and from around the web.
Rising gasoline and food prices lifted consumer spending in March — while the increase in overall inflation from a year ago was the largest in 10 months.
Chevron Corp., the second-largest U.S. oil company, reported a 36 percent jump in quarterly earnings — as oil prices surged and refining profits improved along with the global economy.
Caterpillar is reporting a quadrupling of its profit last quarter — thanks to higher demand for bulldozers and other heavy equipment.
The dollar fell to its weakest level since July 2008, according to the ICE Dollar Index. The list measures the U.S. dollar against six major rivals. The decline is in part due to traders becoming “more comfortable with the diverging monetary polices of the U.S. and Europe.”
But as the dollar continues to sag, gold is preparing for its seventh consecutive weekly gain.
The federal government has proposed new guidelines for how the food industry can advertise cereal, soda and other foods to children. The rules are voluntary, but food companies will be under lots of pressure to adopt them. Among the practices in the crosshairs? Using cartoon characters like Toucan Sam and and Cap’n Crunch to sell sugary cereals. Regulators want food companies to use those characters to sell healthy foods. Silly Rabbit — Kale’s for kids! Yeah, good luck with that.
In Miami, attorney Mark Gold is suing a strip club. Gold says the staff there got him so intoxicated he had a complete loss of judgment, rational thought or ability to enter into lawful contracts or agreements. Which is legalese for, “How did I get this $19,000 charge on my credit card?“
You can read the rest of today’s stories from the Marketplace Morning Report here.
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