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LONDON (ShareCast) - -JP Morgan suggests ECB rate cut, LTRO restart -EU leaders make little progress -UK contracts more than expected in Q1 An underwhelming EU summit and a barrage of disappointing economic figures failed to hold back gains on Thursday, as the Footsie (FTSE: ^FTSE - news) rebounded following yesterday's steep sell-off. Comments from JP Morgan boosted buying late on after the US bank said in a research note that the European Central Bank (ECB) is likely to react to the ongoing crisis by cutting interest rates and launching another round of cheap funding operations (otherwise known as LTROs). Given the economic data released today, "the ECB will feel more pressure to deliver a monetary response, even though it feels that it has already done a lot to support the region. This response could, for example, be done through interest rate cuts or through further liquidity measures," analyst Greg Fuzesi said. There was also speculation that the EU could look at increasing the resources of the European Investment Bank to bolster investment in infrastructure. Meanwhile, the outcome of last night's informal meeting of the European Council was as expected, with leaders reiterating their stance that they want to keep Greece in the Eurozone as long as it meets the terms of its bailout. The 'eurobonds' issue was a contentious topic, with French and German leaders clashing over the joint debt sales. Several economic reports from home and abroad disappointed today - though that wasn't seen in equity markets - painting a gloomy picture of the global economy: Chinese manufacturing slipped further into contraction; Germany's IFO business index fell sharply; while purchasing managers' indices across the Eurozone came in weak. In the UK, the Office for National Statistics revealed that first-quarter estimate of gross domestic product was revised lower, from -0.2% to -0.3%. Economists had been expecting the initial reading to be confirmed. Economic data from the US was a little better though, helping Wall Street stocks broadly higher after the opening bell; both durable orders and jobless claims data were in line with consensus expectations. FTSE 100 (Euronext: VFTSE.NX - news) : Resources (Euronext: ERS.NX - news) stocks gain as gold and oil prices advance

Randgold Resources (Xetra: A0B5ZS - news) surged today, tracking gold prices higher. Data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF (Berlin: MXG1.BE - news) ) showed today that central banks in Turkey, Ukraine, Mexico and Kazakhstan were building their positions in the precious metal in April on the back of its safe-haven appeal. Stocks in the oil sector were also making gains today as crude prices picked up after the P5+1 group of world powers - China, France, Germany, Russia, UK and US - continued to argue with Iran over its nuclear programme. Oil and gas E&P peers BP and BG Group (Hamburg: BGO.HM - news) were among the best performers, both gaining around 3%; oil services firm Amec (LSE: AMEC.L - news) was also wanted. Shell (LSE: RDSB.L - news) was on the up after extending the offer deadline for AIM-listed Cove Energy (Berlin: LPC.BE - news) after its previously recommended offer was trumped by Thai firm PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP) on Wednesday. "With the Euro crisis set to continue, at least until June 17th when the second round of Greek elections will be held, we can expect to see Oil and Gold fall further as the dollar is expected to continue to appreciate making all dollar priced commodities effectively more expensive," said analyst Craig Erlam from Alpari. United Utilities was higher after saying that it has seen a marked improvement in customer satisfaction in the last year or so, and it is on track to meet regulatory out-performance targets. Financial stocks, having borne the brunt of risk aversion in yesterday's session, were performing well today. Barclays (LSE: BARC.L - news) , Admiral (LSE: ADM.L - news) , Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS.L - news) and HSBC (LSE: HSBA.L - news) were making gains, while Standard Chartered (Xetra: 859123 - news) was lifted higher after JP Morgan reiterated its overweight rating on the stock. FTSE 250 (FTSE: ^FTMC - news) : C&W Comms surges after full-year results

International mobile operator Cable & Wireless Communications rocketed after underlying earnings came in at $901m in the year to the end of March, better than the $887m estimate. Investors didn't seem too phased that the group expects to halve its dividend in the current year. Food wholesaler Booker was also in demand after saying that increased customer numbers and higher internet sales helped revenue increase by 7.3% in the 52 weeks to March 23rd. FTSE 100 - Risers Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,170.00p +8.00% Vedanta Resources (EUREX: VR9F.EX - news) (VED) 999.50p +5.04% Prudential (LSE: PRU.L - news) (PRU) 686.00p +3.39% BP (BP.) 407.00p +3.33% BG Group (BG.) 1,269.00p +3.21% Wolseley (Berlin: WLY1.BE - news) (WOS) 2,272.00p +2.95% United Utilities Group (UU.) 637.00p +2.74% Fresnillo (Frankfurt: A0MVZE - news) (FRES) 1,347.00p +2.67% Barclays (BARC) 185.30p +2.66% ARM Holdings (LSE: ARM.L - news) (ARM) 495.20p +2.65% FTSE 100 - Fallers Rexam (Xetra: 860000 - news) (REX) 393.90p -1.33% Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 238.40p -1.20% IMI (Xetra: 389425.DE - news) (IMI (EUREX: IMIF.EX - news) ) 894.00p -1.16% Hargreaves Lansdown (HL (Shenzhen: 002105.SZ - news) .) 466.10p -0.68% Evraz (EVR) 308.70p -0.61% Man Group (LSE: EMG.L - news) (EMG) 72.70p -0.55% GKN (Xetra: 694194 - news) (GKN (LSE: GKN.L - news) ) 183.20p -0.49% Antofagasta (Xetra: 867578 - news) (ANTO) 1,027.00p -0.48% Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 3,380.00p -0.32% Burberry Group (LSE: BRBY.L - news) (BRBY) 1,365.00p -0.29% FTSE 250 - Risers Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) 33.01p +17.64% Booker Group (BOK) 78.45p +7.47% Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 135.10p +4.89% Hunting (LSE: HTG.L - news) (HTG) 785.00p +4.67% QinetiQ Group (Other OTC: QNTQF.PK - news) (QQ.) 152.00p +4.61% Domino's Pizza UK & IRL (DOM) 475.30p +4.21% Dunelm Group (Berlin: DFQ.BE - news) (DNLM) 505.00p +4.12% TR Property Inv Trust (TRY) 146.20p +3.91% Investec (Frankfurt: A0J32R - news) (INVP) 325.90p +3.62% RPS Group (Frankfurt: 874849 - news) (RPS) 206.30p +3.36% FTSE 250 - Fallers Homeserve (Dusseldorf: XHSA.DU - news) (HSV) 144.00p -4.70% Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 72.20p -3.48% Spirit Pub Company (SPRT) 50.25p -3.37% COLT Group SA (COLT) 114.90p -3.20% Home Retail Group (EUREX: HOMF.EX - news) (HOME) 75.40p -3.08% Ocado Group (Xetra: A1C2GZ - news) (OCDO) 104.70p -2.88% Bumi (BUMI) 398.90p -2.45% PZ Cussons (LSE: PZC.L - news) (PZC) 316.80p -2.34% Kesa Electricals (Other OTC: KESAF.PK - news) (KESA) 49.03p -2.33% Redrow (Xetra: 906188 - news) (RDW) 112.20p -2.18% BC

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London close: Stocks surge as JPMorgan hints at ECB stimulus

Forget bonds, smart investors today want dividends.

The reason is simple -- with the Federal Reserve continuing to stomp on interest rates, the yields that investors can get from dividend-paying stocks are better than the yields they can get from even longer-duration Treasury notes.

This week, Bespoke Investment Group noted:

With the 10-Year US Treasury now yielding 1.74%, it is now paying a coupon that is less than the dividend yield of more than half of the stocks in the S&P 500. As of today's close, there are now 271 stocks in the S&P 500 that have a greater yield than the 10-Year US Treasury.

While that may sound notable on its own, consider this: When looking at the S&P 500's overall yield, prior to the 2008/2009 crash, we have to go all the way back to 1958 to find the last time that the S&P yield was greater than long-term Treasury yields. This isn't an opportunity that comes around very often.

And remember that while the dividend payouts for many S&P 500 companies will continue to grow as the companies' profits grow, the payout that you'll get from a Treasury note stays fixed.

Big, giant yields! The first place that many investors head when they are thinking dividends is the biggest, fattest dividends out there. And, let me tell you, there are some seriously plump payouts in the S&P 500 right now.

Telecom companies in particular light up the radar for investors looking for huge payouts as Frontier Communications (Nasdaq: FTR) , Windstream (Nasdaq: WIN) , and CenturyLink sport respective yields of 11.9%, 10.5%, and 7.5%.

While these aren't on the top of my buy list, there are solid arguments to be made in their favor. For instance, while land-line telephone service may not be nearly the business it once was, the broadband Internet services that these companies also provide are indispensable for most consumers and businesses these days. And even a quick glance at my favorite financial statement -- the cash flow statement -- shows that these companies absolutely gush cash.

That said, these aren't growth businesses. The major avenue for growth in the industry is via acquisition. And even so, there may be a greater possibility of dividends decreasing than increasing. Frontier's annual payout was $1 per share in 2009, but today it's $0.40. And according to data from S&P Capital IQ, Windstream hasn't increased its dividend since 2007.

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3 Dividend Stocks That Make Bonds Look Silly

Chicago, IL (PRWEB) May 24, 2012

The RE/MAX Northern Illinois real estate network recently honored its associates whose 2011 residential sales achievements earned them coveted spots in the year-end Residential Top 20.

Each year, the network gives special recognition to its Top 20 residential agents and Top 20 residential teams, as well as its Top Three commercial agents and teams.

Robert Padron of RE/MAX Cityview, 6430 N. Central Ave., Chicago, made his debut as the No. 1 residential agent. Jane Lee of RE/MAX Top Performers, 210 N. Waukegan Road, Lake Bluff, Ill., won top-residential-team honors for the eighth consecutive year. A team involves the combined efforts of two or more licensed agents.

Here are the Top 20 residential teams and agents for 2011:

TOP 20 TEAMS 1.Jane Lee, RE/MAX Top Performers, Lake Bluff; 2.Matthew Kombrink, RE/MAX Great American North, St. Charles, Ill.; 3.Leslie McDonnell, RE/MAX Suburban, Libertyville, Ill.; 4.Marco Amidei, RE/MAX Suburban, Libertyville; 5.Alex Rullo, RE/MAX Great American North, St. Charles; 6.Cindy Banks, RE/MAX Cornerstone, West Chicago, Ill.; 7.Andee Hausman, RE/MAX Experts, Buffalo Grove, Ill.; 8.Steve Malik, RE/MAX Professionals Select, Naperville, Ill.; 9.Denise DAmico, RE/MAX Central, Roselle, Ill.; 10.Linda ODonnell, RE/MAX Signature, Chicago; 11.Charles Ivas, RE/MAX Elite, Hinsdale, Ill.; 12.Lance Kammes, RE/MAX Suburban, Wheaton, Ill.; 13.Bernie Cobb, Jr., RE/MAX of Naperville, Naperville; 14.Wayne Reuter, RE/MAX Excels, Geneva, Ill.; 15.Paul Wells, RE/MAX of Barrington, Barrington, Ill.; 16.Rosemary West, RE/MAX Professionals Select, Naperville; 17.Bruce Hackel, RE/MAX Synergy, Flossmoor, Ill; 18.Alexander Pagonis, RE/MAX Professionals Select, Naperville; 19.Robert Wisdom; RE/MAX Horizon, Elgin, Ill.; 20.Susan Coveny, RE/MAX Prestige, Long Grove, Ill.

TOP 20 AGENTS 1.Robert Padron, RE/MAX Cityview, Chicago; 2.Edward Lukasik, Jr., RE/MAX Professionals, Bolingbrook, Ill.; 3.Larry Leibovitz, RE/MAX Experts, Buffalo Grove; 4.Sharon Gidley, RE/MAX Unlimited Northwest, Algonquin, Ill.; 5.John Morrison, RE/MAX of Barrington, Barrington; 6.Sharon Falco, RE/MAX Central, Roselle; 7.Kristi Gunther, RE/MAX Exclusive Properties, Chicago; 8.Jill Clark, RE/MAX Professionals Select, Naperville; 9.Rita Neri, RE/MAX Vision 212, Chicago; 10.Marlene Granacki, RE/MAX Exclusive Properties, Chicago; 11.David Cobb, RE/MAX All Properties, New Lenox, Ill.; 12.Marsha Ulbrich, RE/MAX Unlimited Northwest, Lake Zurich, Ill.; 13.Larry Fales, RE/MAX Advantage Realty, Antioch, Ill.; 14.Daniel McGovern, RE/MAX Properties Northwest, Park Ridge, Ill.; 15.Susan Ligmanowski, RE/MAX Unlimited Northwest, Algonquin; 16.Mimi Burke, RE/MAX of Barrington, Barrington; 17.Anna Klarck, RE/MAX Showcase, Long Grove; 18.Cindy Purdom, RE/MAX Suburban, Glen Ellyn, Ill.; 19.Jim Starwalt, RE/MAX Center, Grayslake, Ill.; 20.Linda Price, RE/MAX of Naperville, Naperville.

RE/MAX has been the leader in the northern Illinois real estate market since 1989. The RE/MAX Northern Illinois network, with headquarters in Elgin, Ill., consists of 2,100 sales associates and 110 individually owned and operated RE/MAX offices that provide a full range of brokerage services throughout the northern one-third of Illinois. Its http://www.illinoisproperty.com and http://www.remax.com websites are leaders in consumer visits among real estate franchise brands. Its mobile search, m.illinoisproperty.com, allows users to conduct real estate searches on any mobile device with Internet access. The northern Illinois network is part of RE/MAX LLC, a global real estate organization with 88,000 sales associates in 89 nations.

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RE/MAX Names Northern Illinois Residential Top 20 for 2011: Chicago Real Estate Agent, Lake Bluff Team Capture Top Spots

Small Business: Treasurer Grossman and Rep. Forry toured the Slate Bar & Grill this week, highlighting a small business in the Financial District funded through a Dorchester bank and owned by neighborhood contractors.State officials kicked off National Small Business Week on Monday morning by putting a spotlight on a former ice cream parlor in the Financial District that has been turned into a bar and grill by the same Dorchester contractors who established Ledge Kitchen & Drinks in Lower Mills.

State Treasurer Steven Grossman and state Rep. Linda Dorcena Forry toured the restaurant, called Slate, which received funds through a small business banking partnership that Grossmans office is pushing.

Meetinghouse Bank, which is located in the Lower Mills neighborhood, gave the owners of Slate an extended $500,000 line of credit for the opening and operation of the new business, which opened earlier this year.

The owners are Brendan and Greg Feeney, brothers who are natives of County Sligo in Ireland and who operate Feeney Brothers Contracting.

The Treasurers office initiative behind the $500,000 line of credit provides state cash deposits to community banks that in turn provide loans to small businesses. Since its inception last year, $231 million has been deposited in 44 Bay State banks, according to Grossmans office, with a resulting leverage of 892 small business loans. The Slate loan helped create 32 jobs, Grossmans office noted.

I looked at these two brothers, and I said these are two guys who I have no doubt any small bank would want to partner with, the treasurer told the Reporter after the tour. Noting the wood paneling and high top tables, Grossman gave the restaurant, which serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner, a good review. The next few times Im going to have breakfast downtown, Im going to say meet me at Slate, he said.

Brendan and I are continuously encouraged by the level of support we have received as small business owners in Boston, Greg Feeney said in a statement. The hands-on and open-door policy approach by our local political and community leaders has created an environment where opportunities for entrepreneurship and small business ownership are flourishing.

In her own statement, Forry, chair of the House side of the Small Business and Community Development Committee, said she hopes the celebration of small businesses will become an annual tradition and is a wonderful opportunity to highlight and reflect on the many important economic contributions of our states nearly 582,600 entrepreneurs and small businesses.

Grossman, who went on a tour of ice cream parlors during his run for treasurer in 2010, pointed out that the Slate building used to house a Brighams. I cant get away from ice cream, he said.

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State/Bank loan helps Dot merchants open Hub eatery

A documentary in the works looks to capture the incredible career of an 83-year-old Japanese eccentric.

Yayoi Kusama, known for her innovative soft-sculpture, immersive, polka-dotted experiences, is among Japan's most revered living artists. With art that strides the abstract, cute, and bizarre, this 83-year-, orange-wigged living doll is the consummate avant gardist. She exists in a self-contained bubble of spacy illusions and ephemeral visions, and for the past 38 years has lived voluntarily in a Tokyo psychiatric hospital across the street from her painting studio. Frequent exhibitions at MoMA and the Whitney, prestigious gallery shows, mountains of published monographs, and scores of fashion products bearing her imprimatur attest to her surprising popularity. Last February, the Tate Modern in London opened a major retrospective, now in its final month, that testifies to her colossal art-world appeal.

I came to know Kusama in 1968. But to me, then, she was simply a kook. I was the 17-year-old rookie art director of Screw, an underground sex paper that was a part of the late-'60s sexual revolution. That's where I fielded almost daily phone calls from Kusama, who was aggressively hawking photos of the orgiastic happenings she had choreographed. You see, she was a prodigious orchestrator of gaggles of naked hippies, some wearing masks of Richard Nixon and J. Edgar Hoover, covered in polka dots and scampering in undulating piles of potato-shaped soft sculptures (and on one occasion dangling on the Alice in Wonderland monument in Central Park). Kusama routinely appeared in these photographs as ringmaster, wearing a dot-encrusted leotard.

"I come now, bring photos," Kusama announced in such fast-clipped, heavily accented English that I almost believed that she was speakingand I was understandingJapanese. She'd arrive at the door moments later, as though she had called from just around the corner. Usually, she'd stay for an hour or so, explaining the hidden meaning of every single shot. Listening was torture.

It was a story on a blog in which I mentioned Kusama's hijinx that brought me to the attention of Heather Lenz, a filmmaker making the documentary Kusama Princess of Polka Dots, a seven-minute version of which was cut for the Tate exhibit . I was surprised to learn that this strange blip of memoryKusamahad become such an incredibly renowned artist. If only I saved those photos, I might be rich enough to help Lenz complete her entire film in time for the Tate exhibit.

Lenz was introduced to Kusama's work in the early '90s, when she was earning duel degrees in Art History and Fine Arts, and her textbooks seldom contained any mention of women artists. "Then one day, a sculpture professor showed me a photo of Kusama's sculptures," she told me in a recent interview. "It was love at first sight."

Some years later, Lenz decided to make a film about Kusama. First it was conceived as a biopic, but she decided a documentary was better because "It would be more interesting to have Ms. Kusama tell her story in her own words while she was still alive, and while that was still an option." Lenz is now an expert on Kusama's life in Japan and during the '60s as a struggling artist in New York.

During that period when I met Kusama, "her work had already taken many forms," Lenz explained. Her early material included small paintings made from ink and watercolor on paper. When she moved to New York in 1958, she started making larger paintings on canvas. Then she began crafting sculpture and, later, installations that included sculpture, paintings, and other elements, such as mirrors and macaroni (which in some cases covered gallery floors and required guests to walk over the crunchy pieces of pasta.) Then she moved onto the Happenings she was conceiving when she became our ad hoc photo supplier. "During that era she also made 'orgy clothes,' with strategically cut holes," Lenz said. Then, after moving back to Japan in the '70s, she made collages and wrote semi-autobiographical novels and poems. Since then, she has made paintings, sculptures, installations, and a variety of objects including furniture, purses, puzzles, stickers, and limited-edition phones shaped liked dogs.

"Respect for Ms. Kusama's work has increased dramatically in recent years," Lenz added, and she was the first woman to represent Japan at the prestigious Venice Biennale in 1993. "Like many artists who are ahead of their time, she was misunderstood in her hometown for decades, but now there is a museum there with the largest permanent collection of her art."

Lenz posited that part of what makes Kusama so compelling is that she was willing to go to great lengths to pursue her passion to make art. "I think a lot of the art she created in the '60s was really ahead of its time, and that makes it important. Personally though, I'll always have a soft spot for the collages she produced in Japan after returning there."

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Yayoi Kusama: The Polka-Dot-Loving Art Legend I Initially Mistook for Crazy