“If something anticipated arrives too late it finds us numb, wrung out from waiting, and we feel – nothing at all. The best things arrive on time.” – Dorothy Gilman

1. Senate backs online sales tax measure — the Senate has voted 75-24 to allow states to collect sales taxes from online retailers with $1M+ in annual revenues and no presence within a given state’s borders. While the vote was non-binding, the margin of victory suggests a filibuster shouldn’t be a problem when a binding vote is held. Amazon (AMZN) and eBay (EBAY) have already begun collecting in a number of large states, and many investors assume that collections will expand in time.
2. S&P500 Comparison between 2012 versus 2013 — courtesy of BIG, below is a chart showing the performance of the S&P 500 in 2013 overlaid on a chart of its performance in 2012 through the end of July. As shown, while the S&P 500 was up slightly more in the first quarter of 2012, the index has tracked its 2012 pattern pretty closely in the first quarter of this year.

3. Cyprus works to avert run on banks — Cyprus prepared capital controls to prevent a run on the banks after being closed for almost two weeks. Russia has warned Cyprus not to make the controls too onerous. Uninsured depositors at Laiki bank, which is being shut down, will probably lose 80% of their cash, the rest of which could take years to return, while those at Bank of Cyprus could take a haircut of up to 40%.
4. JPMorgan Chase Faces Full-Court Press of Federal Investigations — from DealBook, Federal prosecutors are reportedly investigating whether JPMorgan (JPM) breached the law by not fully alerting authorities about suspicions related to Bernard Madoff. The probe adds to several others JPMorgan is facing. At least eight federal agencies are investigating the bank, including the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Federal prosecutors and the F.B.I. in New York are also examining potential wrongdoing at JPMorgan.
5. Government funded until September — President Barack Obama yesterday signed the FY 2013 funding bill into law, one day before the previous financing measure was due to expire. The package includes the $85B of sequestration and ensures that the government will be financed until the end of the fiscal year in September, with spending projected at $984B.

The week ahead — Economic data from Econoday.com:

This entry was posted on Monday, April 1st, 2013 at 10:30 am and is filed under Weekly Summary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.