Sears Appliances

Memorial Day might be all about the outdoors, but indoors is where you'll find the best sales. Not only are the biggest discounts on clothing, but shoppers can find the top deals through their Internet connections. In fact, experts say many retailers are offering the deepest cuts to online shoppers this year, largely through "stacking coupons," where shoppers can apply discount codes on top of site-wide sales.
"When you combine those with the sales already going on, that will end up being the largest discount," says Jeff Contray, managing editor of coupon sitedealnews.com. But not all shoppers will be saving this weekend; some items, including sought-after grills and patio furniture, will stay pricey until the end of the season. Here's a round-up of the top deals you'll find throughout the holiday weekend:
Apparel: Historically, Memorial Day is one of the best times of the year to update your wardrobe. That's because retailers know the warm weather inspires shoppers to pick up new shorts and tops, and they mark down their items accordingly, says Contray. Many retailers got a head start on that tradition this year, with Gap Outlet emailing additional discounts to customers that can be used on top of site-wide sales earlier in the week. (Gap.com is also offering an online-only sale through Monday, with some items more than half off.) Sears.com is selling swimsuits, shorts, and summer tops for up to 60 percent off.
Neiman Marcus is offering up to 40 percent off regular prices and American Eagle's website features a 30-percent-off code through Monday. Macys.com features a range of discounts throughout the weekend as well, with extra discounts on swimsuits and beach towels. Kohl's will also take 15 percent off storewide in honor of the holiday. Ann Taylor's "$25 and under event," available both online and in stores, features shoes, tops, and shorts, and some styles are eligible for 50-percent-off discounts.
Tools and appliances: Sears, Home Depot, and Lowe's are all featuring discounts on tool sets, with Home Depot offering one cordless set for just $64, which Contray says is even lower than its Black Friday price. Sears is offering 30 percent off Kenmore appliances, 25 percent off Samsung appliances, and a variety of discounts on other brands with the code "memorialday."
E-readers: Amazon and Barnes & Noble continue to try to undercut each other's e-reader prices, which means consumers can snag better and better deals. Since summer is a big time of year for reading—especially lazy beach novels—Memorial Day is a good time to pick an e-reader, as well as new ebooks. (The lowest-priced Kindle is now $114, while the new Nook, which will be available June 10, is $139.)
Meanwhile, shoppers will benefit by waiting to buy traditional summer items such as grills, patio furniture, and air conditioner units, because prices are higher now than they will be at the end of the season. According to Contray's research, portable air conditioners that sold for $400 at the beginning of last summer dropped to $300 by the end of summer, and he saw the same trend with grills. "If you can wait to update those items you associate with summer until the end of the summer, then it's best to wait," he says. (Home Depot, however, is offering free shipping on grills and patio sets through June 1.)

Something else to skip: electronics. Televisions, computers, and cameras typically fall to their lowest prices around winter holiday sales, such as Black Friday. Early summer is not usually the best time to make those mega-purchases. But Contray adds that a few select retailers, including Newegg and MacMall, will be offering Memorial Day sales. Those desperate for new gadgets can also turn to Pricegrabber.com, which is currently featuring a "Dads and grads" guide that includes deals on smartphones, LED televisions, and audio receivers.
Across almost all categories, the best strategy for shopping success this weekend is to shop online, and to search for any last-minute additional discounts before checking out. With many retailers emailing coupon codes to subscribers that can stack on top of the deals available to everyone, the savviest shoppers will apply not one, but two or more discounts to each purchase. Free shipping might also apply with an extra promotional code; check freeshipping.org for available codes.
Don't wait until Monday evening to shop, because many retailers got a head start on the holiday with some of the best deals launching well before the kick-off of the long weekend.

AAPL

AAPL

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) opened at $349.11. So far today, the stock has hit a low of $348.16 and a high of $350.98. AAPL is now trading at $350.50, up $2.67 (0.77%). Over the last 52 weeks the stock has ranged from a low of $235.56 to a high of $364.90. AAPL shares are rising this morning after a Sterne Agee analyst wrote in a note to investors that the company’s new iCloud service "would be a great start and further distance AAPL from GOOG, AMZN, MSFT, and others, which in the last 10 years or so have failed to put even a minor dent to iTunes." This could be a good sign for AAPL. Sterne Agee currently has a Buy rating and a $460 price target on AAPL. Technical indicators for the stock are bullish and S&P gives AAPL a positive 5 STARS (out of 5) strong buy ranking. If you are looking for a hedged play on AAPL the stock seems like it could be a candidate for an August out-of-the-money bull-put credit spread below the 315 range.

Wachovia

Charlotte law firm Moore & Van Allen has hired a former Wachovia Corp. and U.S. Bancorp lobbyist as managing director of government affairs.

Walter Price will co-lead the practice with Moore & Van Allen partners Nancy Smith and John Saydlowski. Price most recently was at U.S. Bancorp, where he opened the Minneapolis-based bank's first Washington office. Before serving as director of government relations at Wachovia from 2002 to 2010, he worked at Bank of America Corp.
In an interview today, Price said he will help develop Moore Van Allen's presence in Washington, while also helping with state issues in Raleigh. While he brings expertise in financial services, he said he will work with clients in other sectors, including energy, manufacturing and healthcare.

NOK

Struggling mobile phone maker Nokia (NOK: Charts, News, Offers) sorely disappointed investors on Tuesday after it cut its second quarter forecast substantially, expect to miss the targets it set only a few weeks ago. This prompted a sell off which crushed the stock, with shares plunging over 20% during regular trading to a 13-year low. Ever since the debut of Apple’s (AAPL: Charts, News, Offers) seminal iPhone in 2007, Nokia has watched its shares plunge from nearly $40 to under $6. The rise of Google’s (GOOG: Charts, News, Offers) Android devices only expedited the former market leader’s demise, and was exacerbated by the company’s stubborn refusal to use its vast resources and cash hoard to produce a viable entry to the smartphone revolution.
Last September, investors were puzzled by the hiring of Microsoft (MSFT: Charts, News, Offers) executive Stephen Elop – a man best known for producing Microsoft Office products – as CEO, and were further frustrated by Nokia’s partnership with Microsoft to produce Windows Mobile 7 phones. Many industry observers have noted that Nokia’s best path would be to adopt Android to connect its handsets to Android’s vast app store and shared Google resources – a humbling move the Finnish company has adamantly refused to take. Elop’s words didn’t inspire much investor confidence. “Android is gaining strength. Apple is Apple, of course,” he flatly stated in an analyst conference call.
Elop, the first non-Finnish CEO of Nokia, believed that a partnership with his former employer, Microsoft, would be the best way to integrate its handsets, often criticized as proprietary and cut off from the rest of the smartphone world, into an existing cross-company system. Unfortunately, Windows Mobile 7 has been met with a tepid consumer reaction. The “new functions” of Windows Mobile 7 – such as “instantly posting a photo to Facebook” and “Widget Tiles” – seem outdated – and combined with a faded, aging brand like Nokia, seem all the less attractive. Nokia also appears to be phasing out its workhorse Symbian platform as well as its highly anticipated joint venture with Intel (INTC: Charts, News, Offers), the Meego Linux-based operating system, which was slated to be the company’s answer to Android. In February, Meego’s team manager Alberto Torres left Nokia, shortly after the company announced its partnership with Microsoft.
Nokia and Microsoft’s cozy hand-holding overhaul has led many analysts to speculate that the software giant may eventually purchase Nokia, whether by friendly or hostile means. At its current depressed price, Nokia’s market cap of $26.6 billion would be a huge acquisition, but would give Microsoft the assets it needs to churn out its own smartphones, tablets and possibly netbooks to remain competitive with Apple and Google. However, Microsoft is still attempting to digest Skype, which it purchased for $8.5 billion last month, and investors probably shouldn’t bank on Ballmer as a potential savior for Nokia’s share price, yet.
In the meanwhile, Nokia has announced that it expects to “substantially” miss its net sales estimate from its devices and services business for its second quarter, previously projected between 6.1-6.6 billion euros. The company had only set this target a few weeks ago. Nokia also announced that the company is losing business due to tough competition in Europe – the company’s formerly unassailable stronghold. To make matters worse, Elop stated that “management issues” hurt its business in China, where it lost footing to Taiwan-based HTC and South Korea-based Samsung, both major forces in Google’s Android army. Lower-priced and more feature-rich Android phones have severely hurt Nokia across valuable Asian markets. Nokia’s lower-end offerings are traditional cell phones, not smartphones, while its competitors have been able to produce inexpensive smartphones running on the freely distributable Android. Nokia has also been hit hard on the high-end – where industry kingpin Apple reigns supreme with its annual iPhone offering.

The company has stated, “Given the unexpected change in our outlook for the second quarter, Nokia believes it is no longer appropriate to provide annual targets for 2011.” However, the company would still provide quarterly targets. Nokia cut its forecast non-IFRS operating margin of 6-9% to around break-even, which implies a steep loss for the third quarter. Elop believes that once Windows Mobile 7 has become more established and the first Windows-based Nokia phones become available in the fourth quarter, the company will be able to stage a turnaround. However, that delay is dangerous, considering the losses the company could incur in the months between, and its loss of market share to Apple and Google could permanently cripple the company’s chances of a comeback given the fast paced changes in the mobile market.
To maintain its balance sheet, Nokia announced that it would cut 7,000 jobs last month as well as outsource its valued Symbian operating system development unit in order to cut costs. Although Nokia is trading with a P/E of 9.9 with a 1.49 price-to-book ratio, bottom-fishing value investors should be wary that the company may fall into the red for the remainder of fiscal 2011. Meanwhile, the bears will swarm all over the company, which has made vague promises of a comeback which may or may never come.

Wsop

The 42nd Annual World Series of Poker is under way and the poker world is eager for the stories that will emerge from this summer's shindig. Always making a splash are the many WSOP rookies who take to the Rio Convention Center felt for the time. Last summer, rookies Dan Kelly and Carter Phillips earned WSOP gold; this year, a new crop of rookies will be looking to do the same. For the last few weeks, we here at PokerNews have been previewing rookies whom we believe have a good chance of becoming household names by the end of summer.
Here's a look at several WSOP newbies you should keep an eye on.
Kyle Cartwight has been making quite a name for himself on the World Series of Poker Circuit and looks to bring his success to the Rio.
Find out more about him.
Mickey "mement_mori" Petersen is one of the most consistent and recognized players on the virtual felt with more than $4 million in career online winnings. Check out his story and why we think he'll make a splash.
Brendon "Brendooor" Rubie is one of the world's best online players you don't know much about. A no-limit hold'em specialist, Rubie is ready for the WSOP. Here's why.
Mike “Timex” McDonald won EPT Dortmund way back in 2008 and the poker world has eagerly awaited his 21st birthday. The wait is over.
We all know that Dan “jungleman12” Cates can play with the best in the world at the high-stakes cash-game tables. How will he fare on the tournament felt?.

The Brits had a terrific 2010 WSOP and joining the contingent this year is 2010 EPT Vilamoura winner Toby Lewis. Learn more about him.
Taylor von Kriegenbergh is on quite the heater heading into his first WSOP. Recently, he won the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Showdown for $1,122,340. We've profiled him, so you can learn more.
Zach "HustlerGrune" Gruneberg first came on the scene with a sixth-place showing at the 2009 Aussie Millions Main Event and has won about $2 million online since then.

Integra

MicroBilt, a leader in risk management information and benchmarking data for private companies, announces that its Integra financial benchmarking data on private companies for 2010 will be available this week. The 2010 data and historical data from 1998-2009 is available by subscription or by single report purchase by credit card throughMicroBilt’s website.
Integra maintains a database of more than 4.5 million private businesses. The information in the database is developed from 32 public and private sources –– including the IRS –– and provides detailed business valuation and analytic data from over 900 industries (SIC & NAICS), and 13 sales size ranges.
Integra benchmarking data allows MicroBilt’s customers to access reports with historical, company-level information on revenue, income, officers compensation, cash drivers, leverage, cash limits on growth and other key elements of assessing a company’s financial stability and value. Integra data can also analyze a company’s industry and peers on both a macro and peer-group basis.
MicroBilt offers historical benchmarking data (1998-2009) to serve the demand for historical private company data for valuations in business litigation, divorce proceedings and estate accounting. MicroBilt offers now Integra historical benchmark data on private companies for years back to 1998 in its popular 3-Year and 5-Year Industry Reports as well as its Quick Trend Report.
Accountants, appraisers, attorneys and commercial bankers rely on Integra to value and conduct due diligence on privately held businesses. Integra data and reports are used by some of the country’s largest, most prestigious banks and accounting firms. The products are specifically tailored for different users such as accounting and consulting firms; business valuation specialists, banks and finance firms; and business owners. Single report purchase offers valuation professionals “on demand” access to current and historical private industry data.

About MicroBilt
MicroBilt is the leader in serving small businesses with data and tools that they need to manage business risk, value private businesses, make informed lending and hiring decisions. MicroBilt offers the small business owner simple, cost-effective solutions for fraud prevention, consumer financing, debt collection, skip tracing and background screening. MicroBilt provides access to over 3 billion debit account records, nearly 30 billion pieces of demographic and public record data and over 100 million unique consumer records to prevent identity fraud, evaluate credit risk and retain customer relationships. With its PRBC® Consumer Report with the FICO® Expansion® Score and its unique, proprietary non-traditional lending data, MicroBilt is the leading provider of alternative credit data to businesses that want to offer credit and other financial services to the over 100 million underserved consumers in the United States.

Merrill Lynch

Bank of America Merrill Lynch is one of the world’s largest financial institutions, providing a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial products and services. It provides innovative services in M&A, equity and debt capital raising, lending, trading, risk management, research, and liquidity and payments management. The organization serves clients in more than 150 countries and has relationships with 99 percent of the U.S. Fortune 500 companies and 85 percent of the Global Fortune 500.

The joining of Bank of America and Merrill Lynch enables us to deliver an even wider breadth of world class products and services to our clients through our combined size, scale and global presence. In particular, this merger firmly establishes us as a leading global banking and wealth management franchise, and a premier corporate and investment banking and capital market business. Benefits for clients and customers include access to a more comprehensive suite of products, services, and expertise than ever before.

Linkedin Singapore

LinkedIn Corp. established its Asia Pacific headquarters in Singapore and plans to set up a Japan office later this year, as the company seeks to grow its regional footprint.
The headquarters will serve as a gateway for regional expansion and support LindkedIn's existing operations in Australia and India, the company's Asia Pacific managing director, Arvind Rajan, said Tuesday. But it was unclear how the company plans to overcome some of the obstacles that have hindered other social-networking services in the region.
The company, which operates professional networking website LinkedIn, went public in the U.S. earlier this month in the biggest Internet IPO since Google Inc.'s debut in 2004, valuing it at $4.25 billion. Its share price more than doubled on the first day of trading, pushing LinkedIn's value up to $8.9 billion and setting the stage for potential debuts from other Internet companies such as Facebook Inc. and Groupon Inc.

LinkedIn, which has more than 100 million members, makes money from online advertising, premium subscriptions and hiring tools for recruiters. The company generated $243 million in revenue in 2010, but it has warned that revenue will slow and it will be unprofitable in 2011 as it invests in technology and international growth.
Asia Pacific accounts for more than 18 million members, and the company already has a "significant presence" in Australia, India and Singapore, Mr. Rajan said.
"According to [research firm] Comscore, from March of last year to March of this year, we grew 130% in [Asia Pacific]...we think that by having a presence here, by expanding our footprint in Asia, we think we'll see continued sustained growth," he said, but declined to give detailed growth targets.
The company currently has about 50 employees in Australia and India, and plans to hire a dozen people initially in Singapore, where they will focus on sales and marketing operations.
Japan is a priority market this year, though Mr. Rajan said the market could pose some obstacles. Japan's professional culture emphasizes modesty and being discreet, which could counter some of LinkedIn's self-promotional appeal. But Mr. Rajan said the company was encouraged by the popularity of Twitter there, especially among professionals.
LinkedIn is also considering expanding into China, where it already has more than one million members. But he didn't address some of the problems that have bedeviled Facebook, Google and others there. LinkedIn isn't blocked by China's Internet censorship efforts.
"We're looking at it carefully, and thinking about whether it makes sense to get into the Chinese market, and if so, how," Mr. Rajan said.

NSE India

The High Court of Delhi Tuesday directed Competition Commission of India (CCI) to provide the National Stock Exchange (NSE) a full copy of its 25 May order including dissenting notes, if any, which held the bourse guilty of non competitive practises.
While observing that any interim order passed by CCI using an inquiry should include a dissenting note the court directed the counsel appearing for the regulator to furnish a detailed copy of its order including the views of the dissenting member by Friday.
Justice S. Muralidhar also directed NSE to file its response to the show cause notice issued to it on the alleged anti-competitive practice by CCI. NSE has to file its response within five working days after Friday.
Senior counsel Arvind Nigam appearing for NSE contended that the material provided by CCI did not include the view of all the members. "What they have given me is not even signed by one person. How can I know who is with me or against me," he argued.

"I must know where is the disagreement. If something is not in my favour I am entitled to a copy of the dissenting view," he added.
Meanwhile, during the hearing of the matter Justice S. Muralidhar also observed that CCI can put the order passed by CCI on its website so that no one has to file a petition before court to get the order.
Earlier on May 16 NSE had approached the High Court seeking a copy of the investigation report based on which CCI had issued a show cause notice alleging that there was evidence of abuse of dominant position and adoption of unfair practices in Currency Derivatives trading.
In compliance to the court order directing it to provide the detailed copy, CCI had on May 25 furnished a 140 page investigation report to NSE.

MHADA Online Lottery 2011

MHADA

Maharashtra Minister of State for Housing, Sachin Ahir, today said that the state government has asked the housing body, MHADA, to ensure that under-construction flats are completed within the stipulated time. Ahir said he had received complaints that even after allocating flats to the beneficiaries under lottery system, they cannot move into new houses due to incomplete works by the housing body. "Their loan instalments are deducted every month. But, they cannot go and stay there since the flats are not ready. Many a times formalities like water connection and (issuing of) occupation certificates are not completed," Ahir said on the sidelines of the online lottery held by the MHADA (Maharashtra Housing Area Development Authority) today for allotment of around 4000 flats located across Mumbai and suburbs. The minister pointed out that responsibility will be fixed on MHADA officials, including its CEO and vice president, to ensure that the flats are completed on time.

LIC Jeevan Arogya

Life Insurance Corporation of India ( LIC )) is launching its new non-linked health insurance plan 'Jeevan Arogya' from tomorrow offering comprehensive hospitalisation benefits for the family of the principal insured.

The feature of this plan is that it offers to cover parents and in-laws of the principal insured besides spouse and minor children, Senior Divisional Manager Sudhakar Joshi told reporters.

He said this is a defined benefit policy meaning that benefits are fixed in terms of policy conditions and are payable irrespective of the actual amount spent on treatment.

Besides, benefits are payable regardless of the life insured getting reimbursement under any other scheme from his or her employer or any other insurance company.

USAA

Locations like Joplin, Missouri are deep in recovery mode after the deadly and devastating tornados seen earlier this month.
The USAA is handling all homeowner insurance claims, in towns where homes were reduced to literal sticks and dust. The casualty toll was immensely high, and far more people were left with homes that were completely leveled. Although people will rebuild, a USAA employee spoke to press about the services offered to homeowners in the interim:
“These vehicles are on standby for whatever weather-related catastrophe might happen in any part of the country,” says Clayton Allen with USAA. “We’ve got our own power here, we’ve got the ability if members need to recharge their phones, if they need to recharge laptops, something like that. They need to recover and they have the ability to do that here.”

However, the Detroit Free Press points out that insurance companies aren’t your friends- and while it’s good to avail yourself of offered services when disaster strikes, it also pays to periodically examine the details of your policy, just in case:
Thousands of families in Joplin, Tuscaloosa and other tornado-stricken communities have seen their homes flattened and the contents destroyed. And sadly, many of these homeowners will soon discover that their insurance won’t cover all of their rebuilding costs… The good news is that typical homeowners insurance covers damage from tornadoes. Other natural disasters, such as floods and earthquakes, aren’t covered under standard policies. But while 96% of homeowners have insurance, 64% of homes are undervalued for insurance purposes, according to a 2008 study by Marshall & Swift, a research firm.
This season, a small episode arc of the Hurricane Katrina-themed HBO hit Treme deals with insurance woes after large scale disasters.

Citizens Bank

A $1,000 reward is being offered for Information leading to the arrest and conviction of two men responsible for robbing Citizens Bank in Grosse Pointe Woods.
Crime Stoppers of Michigan is now offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of two men who robbed Citizens Bank May 18, Grosse Pointe Woods Det. Sgt. Raymond Yonkowski said.
The men entered the bank at Mack Avenue and Stanhope Street shortly before 1 p.m. May 18 toting guns and wearing white cotton masks. One man ordered a teller to the ground, jumped the counter and filled a bag with cash.
The other man ordered a customer who entered the bank during the crime to the ground. No one was injured during the robbery.

Yonkowski said detectives are still investigating the crime and are hopeful the reward will aid in their efforts.
The men drove from the bank in a maroon minivan with a bag full of cash.
The first robber is described as about 5-foot-9 with a medium build, 25 to 35 years old, black with a beard. He was last seen wearing a gray jacket, dark pants and blue Converse All Star tennis shoes.
The second robber is described as about 5-foot-5 with a slim build, 30 to 40 years old and black. He was last seen wearing a red jacket, blue jeans and brown shoes.
Anyone with information is asked to all the Woods detective bureau at 313-343-2412 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP.

Powerball Numbers

The Powerball lottery drawing passed on Wednesday night without a winner, so the jackpot for Saturday has risen to an estimated $171 million, with a cash option of $88.7 million.
There was no winner chosen for the 9th consecutive Powerball drawing. Lottery Post reports that six tickets matched the first five numbers without the Powerball to win $200,000, none of them coming from New Jersey.
The game has been around for 23 years now. According to lotteryuniverse.com, Powerball was introduced in in 1988 as Lotto America, and became Powerball in 1992.
Powerball was the first lottery drawing to use a two-drum system. Oregon Lottery employee Steve Caputo proposed the idea, to enable both high odds for the top prize and low odds for smaller lottery winnings.

PowerPlay came to the game in March, 2001. For at least $1 extra, players can draw the multipliers of 2X, 3X, 4X, or 5X for smaller prize winning levels.
Before November 1997, jackpot winners could only receive their prizes in annual installments over a 25 year period. The annuity is now available in 30 payments to be made over 29 years.
POWERBALL WINNING NUMBERS FOR MAY 28, 201112, 20, 43, 51, 55 and Powerball 11 (PPx4)
Global-lottery-review.com reported that Powerball began in New Jersey on January 31st 2010 when Mega Millions reached a cross-selling agreement with the Multi-State Lottery Association which alllowed sales of Powerball in Mega Millions states and Mega Millions in Powerball states.
New Jersey Powerball wins of over $ 599.50 may need to be claimed at New Jersey
Lottery headquarters in Lawrenceville wins a claim form. Wins of a lesser amount can be claimed at your local lottery dealer.

PNC

PNC Bank has become the latest to accept check deposits from a smartphone or tablet.

The Pittsburgh-based financial institution launched the feature on iOS today. It works by letting users log into their checking or savings account, then taking pictures of the front and back of the check.
The same kind of technology used for ATM deposits analyzes the check to automatically identify its account and routing numbers, as well as the dollar amount. It must be able to identify all of this information or the deposit will be rejected.
PNC, which has been criticized for its anti-consumer attitude and worst-in-class assessment of fees, has been trying to turn its image around. This is the latest move in that direction.
However, PNC isn't the first to offer this service. Chase became the flagship bank when it launched mobile deposits through its iPhone app last year. It has since brought the feature to Android as well.

Additionally, online money sending service Paypal rolled out mobile check deposits to its iPhone app earlier this month.
PNC first introduced the feature to select business and Virtual Wallet customers last month. Today's announcement brings it to everyone with a PNC account that can accept check deposits at an ATM.
"There has been unprecedented change in consumer preferences and customers' relationship with their money. Mobile deposit is another way that PNC makes it easier for customers to achieve their financial goals with innovative products and new technology," said PNC senior VP Tom Kunz in a statement.

iOS 5

Apple announced today that it plans to introduce the next generation of its mobile platform, iOS 5, as well as a new cloud service called iCloud at the Worldwide Developers Conference next week on Monday, June 6. This is a highly unusual move for Apple, which normally tries to keep their center-ring announcements secret until the scheduled event.
In a press release, Apple says that iOS 5 will be unveiled alongside iCloud and OS X 10.7 Lion. However, there are no follow-up details on any of the software; the only official tidbit on iCloud is that it is an "upcoming cloud services offering."

There have been unofficial trickles of information on all three products over the last few months. iCloud isrumored to be a "digital locker" type service, not unlike Amazon's recently released cloud services for storing music. iOS 5 is expected to be a major overhaul to the operating system and may include features like over-the-air updates and a new mapping capability, though it will likely not make its way to related devices until this coming fall.
The week before any Apple event is often a time of rabid speculation and digging on the part of news outlets because Apple usually tries so hard to keep its new products under lock and key. Now that Apple is trying to take control of the information flow nearly a week before WWDC starts on June 6, we wonder if we'll see more official details emerge on iOS 5 and iCloud in the next few days.

Portable Air Conditioner

We were in denial about our air-conditioning needs at first. We've had such an inconsistent spring - it left us wondering if we'll have a mild summer. Maybe we won't need that portable air conditioner after all?
Then, Memorial Day weekend hit. (What was the weather like in your neck of the woods?) In New York City, the temperature went past 80 degrees. Hello heat! Now what?
My boyfriend and I sweltered in our apartment for one night. Then, we tried the Honeywell QuietSet 8 Speed Tower Fan - anything to keep us from those scary summer electric bills after you have the air conditioner blasting for hours on end. We had such high hopes, but found ourselves sweating bullets regardless. That super-fan, as sweet as it is, didn't cut it. Thanks, humidity.
We decided to surrender to buying an air conditioner, but first, we needed guidance. If we're going to make the investment of $200+, we better get this right. No returns, no regrets, no buyer's remorse, please. So we followed these tips:

Size matters

The BTU is a number used to describe the energy content of fuels - how powerful it can heat or cool. In order to sufficiently cool a room, your air conditioner has to be strong enough to handle the area. If you buy one that's too strong, you could be wasting money. If you buy one that is too weak, then you won't be cooling efficiently. Visit the Air Conditioning Calculator on HomeDepot.com to estimate your BTU needs.

Read reviews
Once you've got your BTU figured out, you can visit Consumer Reports for their recommended brands and models. Don't forget to check out user reviews to see who's happy with their units.

So what did we end up getting? After all the research, we went with the Frigidaire 12,000 BTU Window Air Conditioner(pictured) in white for $299.99. We installed it in the hallway window to cool all 650 square feet of my cozy Manhattan apartment. So far, so good. Now let's just hope that first summer electric bill doesn't shock us.

HDFC Bank

HDFC Bank

Benchmarks were off intraday highs as profit booking emerged following lower-than-expected March GDP data. All the sectoral indices were in the green with realty, FMCG and banks leading the rally on the back on strong cues from Asian peers.

India's economy for the quarter ended March grew at 7.8 per cent against 9.4 per cent in the same period a year ago. The figure is lower than Reuters poll median forecast of 8.2 per cent.

At 11:25 am; Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensex was at 18334.79, up 102.73 points or 0.56 per cent. The 30-share index hit a high of 18417.50 and low of 18266.61 in early trade.

National Stock Exchange's Nifty was at 5505.05, up 31.95 points or 0.58 per cent. The broader index touched a high of 5532.95 and low of 5489.70 in trade so far.

"At present prices have tested the 20-day SMA and have face resistance at that level. Positioning of the momentum oscillators suggests a possible upside after a consolidation.

For coming trading session we maintain our view that if indices trade above 18440 / 5520 levels, then there is high probability that indices may test 185560 - 18798 / 5563 - 5636 levels. On the downside, 18151 - 18012 / 5440 - 5400 levels may act as support for the day," said Angel Broking note.

BSE Midcap Index was up 0.88 per cent and BSE Smallcap Index moved 0.48 per cent higher.

Amongst sectoral indices, BSE FMCG Index was up 1.53 per cent, BSE Realty Index moved 1.49 per cent higher and BSE Healthcare Index advanced 1.02 per cent.

DLF (2.29%), ITC (2.24%), HDFC Bank (1.68%), Jindal Steel (1.37%) and HDFC (1.18%) were the major Sensex gainers.

Reliance Communications (-1.54%), M&M (-1.22%), Hindalco (-0.86%), Cipla (-0.77%) and Bharti Airtel (-0.50%) were the top losers.

Reliance Communications posted consolidated net profit of Rs 1345.65 crore for the year ended March 2011 against Rs 4655 crore a year ago. Net sales were at Rs 22089.39 crore as compared to Rs 20685.05 crore.

Hindalco reported standalone net profit of Rs 2136.92 crore for the year ended March 31, 2011 as compared to Rs 1915.63 crore in the same period a year ago. Net sales were at Rs 23859.21 crore from Rs 19522.09 crore previous fiscal.

Market breadth was positive on the BSE with 1490 advances as compared to 877 declines.

Meanwhile, Asian markets were moved higher even as the US markets were shut. Nikkei 225 was up 1.83 per cent, Hang Seng gained 1.18 per cent and Seoul Composite moved 2.32 per cent higher.

Punj Lloyd Share Price

Punj Lloyd Share Price

Enter Punj Lloyd above Rs 71-72, says Salil Sharma, Technical Analyst, Kapur Sharma & Co.
Sharma told CNBC-TV18, "In Punj Lloyd I think one should stay out and wait for follow-up action today of course some positive news that’s why its moving up but one should wait for a proper bottoming out to happen and I would be waiting till Rs 71-72, if and when this level is crossed then only one should enter Punj Lloyd and in similar space like IVRCL and all, they are far from giving a strong buy signal."
Punj Lloyd trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 3.61 per share. (Dec, 2010). The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 18.75. The latest book value of the company is Rs 107.57 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company was 0.63. The dividend yield of the company was 0.22%.

CPF Minimum Sum

The CPF minimum sum will be revised upwards to $131,000 from the previous $123,000 from July 1, announced the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) in a statement on Tuesday.
The new minimum sum will apply to CPF members who turn 55 from July 1 2011 to June 30 2012.
Those who can set aside the minimum sum fully in cash can apply to commence monthly payouts of $1,170 when they reach their draw down age.
The Medisave minimum sum will also be raised to $36,000 from the previous amount of $34,500. Members will be able to withdraw their Medisave savings in excess of the Medisave minimum sum at or after age 55.
The maximum balance a member can have in the Medisave account is fixed at $5,000 above the Medisave mimumum sum.

Corresponding to the increase in the Medisave minimum sum, this ceiling would also be increased to $41,000 from $39,500.
Any Medisave contribution in excess of the prevailing ceiling will be transferred to the Special Account if the member is below 55 years old or his Retirement Account if he is above 55 and has a shortfall in his minimum sum.
The CPF board said that the revisions, which have been adjusted for inflation, are to ensure that Singaporeans have sufficient savings to meet their healthcare expenses.