Obama's cool may be melting

President Barack Obama made his personal icy cool the trademark of his campaign, the tenor of his White House and the hallmark of an early run of successes at home and abroad. But as the glamour wears off and a long, frustrating summer wears on, he is being forced to improvise — stooping to respond to political foes and adjusting his tactics and demeanor for the trench warfare of a legislative agenda.

The root of the change is one that faces every president: Economic and international realities that resist political charm. Iran and North Korea have shown no interest in the president’s outstretched hand. The economy has delivered a double-whammy, with rising unemployment stirring voters’ concerns while sluggish growth deprives the government of tax revenues Obama would like to spend on new programs. Health care reform, which once appeared flush with momentum from earlier congressional victories, is now on a slog through no less than five committees, which include Democrats who either aren’t sold on Obama’s expansive vision or can’t figure out how to convince voters to pay for it.

“This is when it gets harder,” the president told supporters June 30.
And so it has.

In turn, Obama has adjusted, deviating from the playbook on every front.

The cool president has turned hot on the stump, stripping to shirtsleeves to lambaste doubters in New Jersey Thursday. He departed from his prepared remarks last week to accept a Republican challenge to take personal ownership of the economy: “That’s fine. Give it to me,” he said.

Even Obama's scripted speeches are deliberately more forceful, aggressive and direct in taking on critics, aides say. Friday remarks at the White House had a trash-talk edge – count me out and you’ll be sorry.

Obama’s political operation has dispensed with its post-inauguration cocktails for Republicans – or more often, ignoring them outright — in favor of the old politics of engage, attack and cajole. Obama’s even engaging in a little Democrat-on-Democrat politics, as his ex-campaign arm is beaming TV ads into the home states of moderate fence-sitters on health care.

The tightly programmed White House also is champing at the bit, kicking off what officials say will be a relentless three-week push on health care, starting with the hastily scheduled Friday address. But its first event might have backfired a bit. Its main consequence was proving that the magnetism of Obama’s personal appearances has worn off, as it drew little media attention and a dismissive tweet from the key Senate Republican, Chuck Grassley of Iowa: “Waste of time.”

The sum has been a new sense of uncertainty and strain, and a growing murmur among Democrats in Washington nervous about the White House’s tactics, and a rising tide of concern in the states as local Democratic parties eye midterm elections that are traditionally a challenge for a new president. “That honeymoon period is over, “ said Chris Redfern, the chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party. “Now they’re having to push back, and push back hard.”

White House officials and allies brush off any notion that this new sense of unease is meaningful. The only true test, they say, will be results. Obama still might win major health care reform legislation this year that could be the most important new government program in decades. He has a fighting chance to pass regulations on greenhouse gases, in the form of a “cap and trade” mechanism, through the Senate. And Obama continues to press hard, if with no clear progress, for a breakthrough in the Middle East.

“It’s the third quarter, he’s down by a point, and he’s got his best player on the bench – what really is going to be important is the fall,” said James Carville, the veteran Democratic observer.
“If he gets what’s perceived to be some kind of a major health care thing, gets the climate bill through, if the economy recovers, then we’ll all say he had a hell of a summer. Conversely, if the thing falls apart, we’ll say that by July the 19th we could tell the thing was going bad.”

White House Deputy Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer dismissed the suggestion that Obama should be expected to succeed effortlessly – or that he’s on a path toward failure on any of these varied fronts.

“Obama and his team have been down this road dozens of times and been declared dead many times and always succeeded,” he said. “No one gets rich betting against Barack Obama.”

The most visible aspect of the White House’s new feistiness is an increasing willingness to engage Republican legislators whose criticisms Obama earlier had been happier to overlook. Relentless criticism of the stimulus package from a House Republican leader, Eric Cantor of Virginia, drew a furious barrage from the Democratic National Committee and a visit from no smaller figure than the Vice President of the United States. Rank and file Republicans who criticize the stimulus have also suddenly found themselves under a concerted DNC assault that asks if they’d prefer the federal funding left their districts out. And criticism from Sen Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) drew letters from no fewer than four Cabinet secretaries to his state’s governor, asking if she would prefer they withheld stimulus money.

That pushback has been urged, and welcomed, by state leaders like Redfern and Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Mark Brewer.

“The DNC has been and we were quickly able to rebut and demonstrate all the money that is being spent in their respective districts,” said Brewer of two GOP congressmen attacking the stimulus. “They’ve backed off.”

Still, many Democrats say the Republican attacks on spending are taking their toll.
"The rhetoric is so empty, but it is fairly consistent and I think it’s had an impact on those in middle," said Ohio's Redfern.

But when the White House pushback focused not on Republicans but Democrats on health-care – in the form of Organizing for America ads running in the home states of moderate senators -- some in the party called foul, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.)
The vote last month in the House on the American Clean Energy Security Act showed a willingness to get White House hands dirty in a different way.

Wrangling votes for the “cap and trade” legislation in the House, Obama backed off a campaign promise to auction off all “allowances” – permits to release a set amount of greenhouse gases. Instead of selling them to raise money for other environmental initiatives, the White House allowed congressional Democratic leaders to trade them for votes, assigning allowances to the refinery-heavy district of, for instance, Texas Rep. Gene Green in exchange for his support.
The battle over health care, the centerpiece of the President’s summer, has also hardened into a fairly conventional Washington fight, a new president’s sweeping agenda colliding with congressional caution. Obscure Washington figures like Congressional Budget Office chief Doug Elmendorf and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) have shown the ability to pose a real threat to the White House juggernaut. And some of the White House’s close allies have grown jittery about what they say is a strategy to spend the three weeks leading up to the Senate’s August recess – the insecure deadline for health care votes in both houses – with a series of events aimed at building public pressure on Congress.

“They’re great at campaigns, but legislative battles are different,” said a senior Democrat close to the White House. “It’s not about persuading 51 percent of the American people – it’s about seven senators.”

In another mark of Obama's constant adjustments, his latest remarks didn't mention the August deadline.

White House allies acknowledge the new strains, but say the hard work will pay off.

“A lot of the hard stuff he’s doing now will pay dividends,” said John Del Cecato, a former Obama campaign aide.

Meanwhile, admiration of Obama’s personal qualities has been tempered, even among sympathetic observers, with anxiety for where his agenda will stand at summer’s end.
Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart noted recently that Obama told a Pakistani interviewer that he is an accomplished chef of Pakistani cuisines and reads the great Urdu poets.

“Mr. President,” Stewart said, “while I am impressed with your Renaissance Man-level of knowledge in a plethora of subjects, may I humbly say: That’s great. Just fix the economy!”

Stocks cap strong week with mixed finish

Investors are betting that the stock market has restarted its spring rally.

Stocks ended little changed Friday but held onto an enormous gain for the week. Investors are looking to another flood of corporate earnings reports next week to provide more signs that the economy is healing.

The Dow Jones industrials and the Standard & Poor's 500 index posted their best weekly performance since early March, when the market's spring rally began. Major stock indexes rose about 7 percent for the week.

"The earnings are better than expected and the economic news is not horrifically bad," said Jeff Buetow, managing partner at Innealta Portfolio Advisors. "I think people want the market to go up."

Solid results from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Intel Corp. spurred buying early in the week. But not all the results Friday were strong, so the market barely budged.
Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc. became the latest banks to report big profits but also weakness in their loan portfolios. General Electric Co. beat earnings forecasts, but its revenue came up short.

"The important thing is these earnings results, while not all entirely positive, are beginning to show some signs of stabilization," said Tom Kersting, an analyst at Edward Jones.

The week's upward move has, at least for now, halted a slide that began in mid-June as investors worried the 40 percent jump in stocks this spring was overdone. Analysts said it was a healthy sign that the market was taking a breather on Friday.

"I think it's very constructive that we're taking a pause here and not heading back down," said Richard Sparks, senior equities analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research.

Sparks said it's too early to say whether this week will be representative of the rest of earnings season. Next week's large batch of reports includes Dow components Caterpillar Inc., DuPont and Merck & Co.

The Dow Jones industrials rose 32.12, or 0.4 percent, to 8,743.94. The blue chips rose 7.3 percent for the week, the first weekly gain after a month of losses. It was the best percentage gain since the week ended March 13 and the 597-point jump was the biggest point gain since late November.

On Friday, the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index slipped 0.36, or less than 0.1 percent, to 940.38, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 1.58, or 0.1 percent, to 1,886.61.

The number of stocks that fell narrowly outpaced those that rose on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated trading volume came to 5 billion shares, flat with Thursday.

Financial stocks mostly fell, weighing on the broader market. Investors have been encouraged by strong profits from large banks, but there are still signs that the recession's grip hasn't eased as much as hoped, such as higher loan defaults.

BofA, which has struggled more than some of its peers from loan losses, beat Wall Street estimates just as Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase & Co. did earlier in the week. However its profit fell from a year earlier as losses from delinquent loans continued to climb. BofA fell 28 cents, or 2.1 percent, to $12.89.

Citigroup, another troubled bank, surprised Wall Street with a $3 billion profit instead of the big loss analysts had expected, but results were boosted by the sale of a majority stake in its Smith Barney brokerage. Its shares fell a penny to $3.02.

One exception was CIT Group Inc., whose shares jumped 29 cents to 70 cents, on speculation that the troubled lender might be able to avoid bankruptcy. Its shares had tumbled 75 percent on Thursday after negotiations with federal regulators about a possible rescue fell through.

GE's shares dropped 6 percent after the conglomerate said its earnings fell 49 percent on losses at its financial unit and weakness in industrial businesses. The profits topped forecasts, but revenue came in $3 billion below estimates. The stock lost 75 cents to $11.65.

The reports followed mixed results from Google Inc. and IBM Corp. late Thursday.

Ken Kamen, president of Mercadien Asset Management in Hamilton, N.J., warned that investors' higher expectations could make it harder for the next batch of corporate results to impress investors.

"A lot of exuberance is being figured into the earnings coming out in the next couple of weeks," he said.

Homebuilders' shares climbed after an upbeat reading on the housing market. Construction of new homes and apartments jumped 3.6 percent in June to the highest level in seven months, beating economists' estimates. Building permits climbed 8.7 percent, also beating forecasts.
Shares of Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. rose 8 cents, or 3.3 percent, to $2.53, while DR Horton Inc. rose 26 cents, or 2.7 percent, to $9.90.

The market's moves were jagged this week, with modest gains coming after big surges. Influential banking analyst Meredith Whitney got the market off to a roaring start on Monday after raising her view on Goldman, stoking hopes that financial companies would show more signs of healing.

But the market's response to Goldman's actual report the following day was somewhat subdued amid mixed economic data. Strong earnings and an upbeat forecast from Intel pulled more investors into the market on Wednesday, and hope for more good earnings from the technology sector stirred buying again on Thursday.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 3.65 percent from 3.58 percent late Thursday.

Oil prices rose $1.54 to settle at $63.56 a barrel. The dollar was mixed, while gold prices rose.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 2.80, or 0.5 percent, to 519.22.

Overseas, Britain's FTSE 100 gained 0.6 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 0.4 percent, and France's CAC-40 added 0.6 percent. Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 0.6 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed the week up 597.42, or 7.3 percent, at 8,743.94. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 61.25, 7 percent, to 940.38. The Nasdaq composite index rose 130.58, or 7.4 percent, to 1,886.61.

The Russell 2000 index, which tracks the performance of small company stocks, rose 38.24, or 8 percent, for the week to 519.22.

The Dow Jones U.S. Total Stock Market Index -- which measures nearly all U.S.-based companies -- ended at 9,634.87, up 634.58, or 7.1 percent, for the week. A year ago, the index was at 12,850.50.

Iraq government faces claims of prisoner abuse

Iraqi officials outraged by the abuse of prisoners at the U.S.-run Abu Ghraib prison are trying to contain a scandal of their own as allegations continue to surface of mistreatment inside Iraqi jails.
Accounts of Iraqis being beaten with clubs, blindfolded and coerced into signing false confessions are attracting increased attention partly because the United States is getting out of the prison business in Iraq. Since a security agreement took effect Jan. 1, the U.S. has transferred 841 detainees into Iraq's crowded prison system and more are on the way.

Allegations of mistreatment have persisted since 2005, when U.S. troops raided an Interior Ministry lockup in a predominantly Shiite area of southeastern Baghdad and found scores of emaciated prisoners. The matter returned to the spotlight after the June 12 assassination of Sunni lawmaker Harith al-Obeidi, an outspoken advocate of prisoner rights.

The issue is a test of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's commitment to the rule of law and to reconcile with the Sunni minority, who account for most of the prisoners held in security cases. Sunnis claim they are being unfairly targeted by security forces run by al-Maliki's Shiite-dominated government.

"The cases are as bad as what took place at Abu Ghraib, but it is painful when these things take place in Iraqi prisons," said Sunni lawmaker Salim Abdullah. "We met some of those who were released and saw the scars on their skins. They use different kinds of torture like tying the shoulders and hanging the body, which normally leads to dislocation of the shoulders."

The allegations pale in comparison with the horrific accounts of Saddam Hussein's prisons, where inmates were systematically beaten, jammed into tiny windowless cells and executed on the flimsiest of evidence and where men were forced to watch their wives and daughters raped.
Still, the current Iraqi leadership came to power with the promise to hold itself to a higher standard and respect human rights.

Iraqi officials acknowledge some abuse and insist improvements are being made. The issue, however, poses a thorny question for Americans: How can the United States transfer detainees into a system where abuse has occurred?

The U.S. military says it sends Iraqi prisoners only to detention facilities approved by Iraq's Ministry of Justice.

However, Iraqi lawmakers, human rights advocates and the Human Rights Ministry claim most of the abuse is not taking place in prisons run by the Justice Ministry, but in those operated by the Interior and Defense Ministries. Prisoners there are generally accused of links to Sunni and Shiite insurgent groups.

Abu Ali al-Rikabi, a father of five who owns a vegetable shop in Diwaniyah, said scars on his legs and back are evidence of his mistreatment at the hands of the Iraqi police who accused him of being involved with a former Shiite militia.

"At dawn one day in November 2007, I was sleeping in my room with my wife when the Iraqi police broke in, handcuffed me and took me blindfolded to their headquarters," al-Rikabi told The Associated Press. "As soon as they reached the place, they began beating me severely with thick clubs and batons, hitting every part of my body, especially my legs and back. They kept on doing that for three days."

He said he was ultimately transferred to another prison in Diwaniyah, 80 miles south of Baghdad, and was released the following October. "No one told me why I was arrested or why I was released," he said.

An eight-member panel that al-Maliki set up after al-Obeidi's assassination to look into abuse is expected to complete its investigation in a month of two.

A military spokesman, Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, said the panel has visited three detention centers in Baghdad and will inspect others. He said most of the abuse uncovered so far took place in Rusafa prison in eastern Baghdad.

At a human rights symposium this month, al-Maliki said allegations would be investigated. The prime minister said detainees should have rights but that no one should ignore the victims of crime — "orphans and the widows who lost their husbands because of terrorism."
"If every imprisoned person is innocent ... then who has destroyed the country? Who killed people?" he asked.

Al-Maliki's prison investigation follows a limited Interior Ministry probe of 112 complaints of abuse. Of those, the ministry found 23 cases of human rights abuses and 20 cases where inmates were incarcerated without warrants. Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani said 43 police officers face charges.

A 2008 report by the Human Rights Ministry identified 307 cases of alleged torture and ill-treatment among 26,249 detainees in Iraqi custody at the end of last year. The Iraqi prison population has risen to nearly 30,000 since then and is slated to grow as the U.S. either releases or transfers its remaining 10,429 detainees.

The ministry report stated that most of mistreatment occurs when the detainee is first arrested and taken to facilities run by combat soldiers and not trained prison guards.

"It's an uncomfortable place to be in an (Iraqi) Ministry of Defense facility," said David King, a British adviser to Iraq's Ministry of Defense. "They are very overcrowded and they are very poorly equipped."

King said, however, that the Iraqi government was interested in improving the system and supplying clean bedding and clothing and allowing relatives to visit detainees.
That's little consolation to Iraqis who say they have been abused.

Mohammed al-Obeidi, 28, a Sunni, told the AP that he was selling mobile phones in a rented shop in Amiriyah, 25 miles west of Baghdad, when Iraqi soldiers arrived in Humvees and apprehended him and six others in 2006. He said they were taken to a prison in northern Baghdad where he was blindfolded and handcuffed during interrogation.

"The investigation officer used to tell me to confess that I was a terrorist and was planting roadside bombs," said al-Obeidi, who was never charged and was released for lack of evidence. "They used insults and sectarian slander. They normally tied me to a hook on the ceiling to keep me hanging, and then they were beating me with electric sticks. In one of these investigation sessions, my left shoulder was dislocated."

Politicians loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr, a firebrand anti-American Shiite cleric, also are pressuring the government on the issue. Al-Sadr's followers were rounded up in droves last year as part of a government crackdown against militia fighters.

Sadrist lawmaker Falah Hassan Shanshal said he visited a month ago with detainees facing the death sentence.

"One of them was 22 years old. He was crying and asked to talk to me in private," Shanshal said. "He told me that officers raped him and abused him sexually and then forced him to confess things he did not commit."

"These officers were committing the same violation conducted during the former regime," he said.

Obama: Civil rights leaders paved way for him

President Barack Obama on Thursday traced his historic rise to power to the vigor and valor of black civil rights leaders, telling the NAACP that their sacrifice "began the journey that has led me here." The nation's first black president bluntly warned, though, that racial barriers persist.
"Make no mistake: The pain of discrimination is still felt in America," the president said in honoring the organization's 100th convention.

Rousing up his audience, Obama offered his most direct speech on race since winning the White House, a mix of personal reflection and policy promotion. He worked on it for about two weeks and revised it until shortly before he spoke, his aides said, underscoring the importance of his message and his audience.

Implicit in his appearance: He is seeking the backing of the powerful NAACP and its members for his ambitious domestic agenda.

Painting himself as the beneficiary of the NAACP's work, Obama cited historical figures from W.E.B. DuBois to Thurgood Marshall, Martin Luther King Jr. to Emmet Till, to explain how the path to the presidency was cleared by visionaries.

Despite the racial progress exemplified by his own election, Obama said African-Americans must overcome a disproportionate share of struggles, including being more likely to suffer from many diseases and having a higher proportion of children end up in jail.

"These are some of the barriers of our time," Obama said. "They're very different from the barriers faced by earlier generations. They're very different from the ones faced when fire hoses and dogs were being turned on young marchers," Obama said. "But what's required to overcome today's barriers is the same as what was needed then. The same commitment. The same sense of urgency."

Obama's remarks, steeped in his personal biography as the son of a white mother from Kansas and black father from Kenya, challenged the audience — those in the room and those beyond — to take greater responsibility for their own future.

He told parents to take a more active role, students to aspire beyond basketball stars and rappers, and residents to pay better attention to their schools.

Throughout his comments, Obama sought a balance, contending that the government must foster equality but individuals must take charge of their own lives.

The key to success, Obama said, is improving education for all. Citing school segregation and the fight that was waged both on school steps and in courthouses, he said the condition of schools is an American problem, not an African-American one.

"There's a reason Thurgood Marshall took up the cause of Linda Brown. There's a reason the Little Rock Nine defied a governor and a mob," Obama said. "It's because there is no stronger weapon against inequality and no better path to opportunity than an education that can unlock a child's God-given potential."

Unlocking that potential, though, means both acknowledging the challenges facing black youth and then finding a solution to problems that are the legacy of decades of institutionalized discrimination.

"We have to say to our children, `Yes, if you're African-American, the odds of growing up amid crime and gangs are higher. Yes, if you live in a poor neighborhood, you will face challenges that somebody in a wealthy suburb does not have to face," Obama said, returning to his tough-love message familiar from his two-year presidential campaign.

"But that's not a reason to get bad grades, that's not a reason to cut class, that's not a reason to give up on your education and drop out of school," he said. "No one has written your destiny for you. Your destiny is in your hands."

NAACP President Benjamin Todd Jealous described Obama's speech as "pitch-perfect," praising him for talking about the racial disparities that still exist in areas like education and in incarceration.

"This evening is an affirmation of all the work that we've done for a century," Jealous said. "It's also an affirmation of all the work that we're doing right now."

Obama expanded his message of equal rights beyond the black communities. He said many Americans still face discrimination and suggested that the NAACP — in search of a mission for its second century — might embrace a broader mandate in coming years.

Today, Obama said, it is not prejudice or discrimination that presents the greatest obstacles for blacks, but rather structural inequities_ in areas such as education and health care. Still, though, he said discrimination persists — and not just for blacks — and he chided those who may contend otherwise.

Obama also pressed for NAACP members to encourage their young people to find new role models beyond sports or music.

"I want them aspiring to be scientists and engineers, doctors and teachers, not just ballers and rappers," Obama said. "I want them aspiring to be a Supreme Court justice. I want them aspiring to be president of the United States."

With that line, Obama drove the hotel ballroom audience to its feet.

To bolster his arguments, Obama cited his own biography, growing up with a single mother.

"I know what can happen to a child who doesn't have that chance," Obama said. "But I also know what can happen to a child who does. I was raised by a single mom. I don't come from a lot of wealth. I got into my share of trouble as a child. My life could easily have taken a turn for the worse. When I drive through Harlem or I drive through the South Side of Chicago, when I see young men on the corners, I say, 'There but for the grace of God go I.'"

Strong results at Intel pull stocks sharply higher

The nation's big companies are giving investors a reason to restart Wall Street's spring rally.
Stocks surged Wednesday for the second time in three days, propelling all the major indexes up about 3 percent and the Dow Jones industrials up 257 points for their biggest one-day gain in nearly four months. An upbeat forecast from Intel Corp. and the Federal Reserve's more positive take on the economy built on momentum that began Monday when an analyst issued an optimistic forecast for Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

The news had investors believing again that the economy may not be as weak as many have feared. Wall Street had drifted lower over the past month, putting its big spring rally on hold as hopes for a quick recovery faded.

The latest encouragement came from Intel, the leading computer chip maker whose much better results suggested that computer sales -- and perhaps capital investment in general -- is picking up faster than had been expected. Intel's news followed not just the upgrade of Goldman but the bank's strong profit report on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the day's economic data were more reassuring than some of the numbers the market had seen recently. The Federal Reserve said industrial companies cut production far less in June than they had in previous months, with output at the nation's factories, mines and utilities slipping just 0.4 percent last month after sliding 1.2 percent in May.

Traders found more good news when the Fed released minutes from its June meeting, saying it now expects the economy to contract at a slower pace than previously thought.

"What we're seeing is some confirmation that stabilization is in fact upon us," said Matthew Kaufler, portfolio manager at Federated Clover Investment Advisors in Rochester, N.Y. "At least right now investors are willing to say it's not going to be as bad as feared."

Still, it's very early in the reporting period for second-quarter earnings. With so many companies still to release their results and outlooks, the market could still retreat if investors don't like what they're hearing.

The Dow jumped 256.72, or 3.1 percent, to 8,616.21, its biggest gain since March 23. The Dow is up 5.8 percent in three days, its best run since a three-day period ended April 2. The Dow is now down only 163 points from where it closed on June 12, when stocks began to slide after their surge in March and April.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 26.84, or 3 percent, to 932.68, while the technology-laden Nasdaq composite index gained 63.17, or 3.5 percent, to 1,862.90, responding to Intel's news. The Nasdaq has now advanced for six straight days, giving it a gain of 6.7 percent over that stretch.

Investors are showing again this week that economic data are important but corporate earnings and forecasts can be even more effective in galvanizing buyers.

Wednesday's gain in the Dow was the best percentage climb since April 9, when the blue chips jumped 3.1 percent as banker Wells Fargo & Co.'s early profit report topped expectations. For the S&P 500 index, Wednesday's jump was the biggest since a 3 percent rally on May 18 when a better-than-expected profit report from Lowe's Cos., the home-improvement chain, helped boost sentiment.

Robert B. MacIntosh, chief economist at Eaton Vance Management in Boston, remains cautious. He said investors had been bracing for weak earnings so it doesn't take much to beat expectations and that the excitement could mask trouble spots in the economy like unemployment.

"Real growth is when you start to create some jobs," he said. "People are going to be disappointed in the weakness and the length of the recovery."

Financial stocks jumped after American Express Co. and Capital One Financial Corp. said delinquency rates improved in June. That hinted that consumers weren't struggling as much as they had been.

Amex jumped $2.76, or 11.3 percent, to $27.22, while Capital One surged $2.73, or 11.8 percent, to $25.84.

The gains in stocks robbed Treasurys of some of their safe-haven appeal as investors became more willing to take on risk. The 10-year Treasury note, a widely used benchmark for mortgages and other loans, tumbled more than a point, pushing its yield up to 3.62 percent from 3.47 percent late Tuesday.

Investors will be watching other big banks -- JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc. -- reporting second-quarter results this week to see whether the industry is recovering.

Intel rose $1.22, or 7.3 percent, to $18.05.

The dollar fell, and prices for gold and other commodities rose. Light, sweet crude rose $2.02 to settle at $61.54 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Nine stocks rose for every one that fell on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 5.5 billion shares, compared with 4.2 billion Tuesday.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 18.22, or 3.7 percent, to 514.74.
Stocks also surged overseas following Intel's report. Britain's FTSE 100 jumped 2.6 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 3.1 percent, and France's CAC-40 gained 2.9 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 2.1 percent.

Wow! A Quadrillion-Dollar Credit Card Bill

A North Texas man has a 17-figure credit card statement after a bank glitch resulted in an eye-popping charge.

Wow! A Quadrillion-Dollar Credit Card Bill
Watch VideoA banking glitch turned a charge from Five Sixty by Wolfgang Puck into a whopping 17-figure credit card charge.Weird News PhotosView SlideshowFrom mermaids to flying pigs check out these pictures of off-beat, interesting happenings from around the world.This is what it looks like: $23,148,855,308,184,500.00.

Here’s how to say it: 23 quadrillion,148 trillion, 855 billion, 308 million, 184,000, 500 dollars.
It's more than 2,000 times the national debt -- and, according to Jon Seale's online credit card statement, it’s what he spent July 13 at Five Sixty by Wolfgang Puck.

“For that amount of money, I could actually own Wolfgang Puck himself," Seale said.
Seale, a husband and father of five from Trophy Club, spent much of Tuesday making calls to Wachovia and Visa in hopes of getting the exorbitant charge removed from his Wachovia Visa Buxx credit card. Both companies told him they were working to resolve the issue.

“It's an inconvenience, but it's not like I was truly worried my money was gone," he said. "It’s an obvious, glaring error.”

Seale even tried tracking down the celebrity chef himself.

“I tried to find Wolfgang Puck on Facebook and add him as a friend to see if he’d make a comment, but I didn’t have any luck finding him," Seale said.

Visa said the technical glitch that resulted in the giant charge only affected some customers with prepaid Visa cards.

"A temporary programming error at Visa Debit Processing Services caused some transactions to be inaccurately posted to a small number of Visa prepaid accounts," said Visa spokeswoman Elvira Swanson said in a written statement. "The technical glitch has been corrected, and all erroneous postings have been removed.”

Steale was not the only Visa Buxx cardholder to see the huge charge on his statement. A New Hampshire man found the $23 quadrillion charge after buying a pack of cigarettes at a gas station. A Visa representative said affected customers will also have the $20 overdraft fees removed.

Obama reps Chicago's South Side, delivers first All-Star pitch

ST LOUIS — Where did it land? Was it a strike or wasn't it? Why didn't the network choose a better camera to shoot from? Those were the questions that viewers of baseball's All-Star Game were asking themselves at home after Fox elected to show President Barack Obama's ceremonial first pitch at the 80th All-Star Game from a tight angle.

Ruling as a part-time umpire who had a good view from the pressbox at Busch Stadium, Obama's pitch was a no-doubt-about-it ball, even factoring in an expanded strike zone for the Commander-in-Chief. Obama's southpaw delivery landed a little short of the plate, but Cardinals star Albert Pujols(notes) was able to save it by quickly scooping it up.

Earlier on Tuesday, the President said that he planned to throw his first Presidential pitch high so it'd get to the plate without bouncing, but his control was lacking. He clearly didn't throw a strike like George W. Bush famously did during the 2001 World Series in New York just weeks after Sept. 11.

The more debatable point from the historic moment was the reception the President was afforded by the self-described "best fans in baseball." Though Obama was roundly cheered by the All-Star fans, his live presence still didn't attract the applause that George W. Bush did during a taped announcement by the four previous Presidents before the game and some boos could even be heard among the cheers.

Whether or not those fans were booing Obama's politics (Missouri voted for John McCain last November) or his choice of attire (he chose to wear a long-sleeved White Sox jacket in support of his favorite team and a pair of regular old blue jeans) was unclear.

"My wife thinks I'm cute in the White Sox jacket," Obama later told Joe Buck and Tim McCarver in the broadcast booth in a conversation that seemed very loose and free-flowing instead of scripted. "I'm not a Cubs hater, I'm not one of those guys. I just don't root for them, that's all."
Before his throw, Obama took the field and accepted the ceremonial first ball from Cardinals legend Stan "The Man" Musial. He then jogged to the mound and chose to stand on top of the rubber instead of taking the easy politician stance a few feet in front of it.

Obama's first pitch was an addition to the long history of Presidents and baseball. Here are a few more bits of Presidential All-Star trivia, via the New York Times:

• Franklin Delano Roosevelt attended the 1937 game and threw out the first pitch from the Presidential Box at Griffith Stadium in D.C.
• JFK and LBJ attended the 1962 All-Star Game in Washington and called Musial over to their box to congratulate him for getting a hit in the seventh.
• At the 1970 All-Star Game in Cincinnati, Richard Nixon threw out two first pitches, one each to both of the starting catchers, Bill Freehan and Johnny Bench.
• Gerald Ford did the same in 1976 — the last time a President threw out a first pitch at the All-Star Game — but topped Nixon by throwing one lefthanded and one righthanded.
• Ronald Reagan attended the 1989 All-Star Game in Anaheim, but didn't throw out the first pitch. Instead, the former baseball broadcaster visited the announcer's booth and was able to call a Wade Boggs' home run.