Treasury yields inch higher along with stocks

U.S. Treasury yields inched up on Wednesday after the government reported that the economy grew faster in the spring than first thought.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note edged up to 1.66 percent from 1.64 percent late Tuesday.

Rising yields can be a sign that investors are feeling more confident about the economy, because the government has to pay more to get investors to choose bonds over riskier stocks.

The price, which moves inversely to the yield, fell 15.6 cents for every $100 invested.

It was an unusually quiet day on Wall Street. Stocks nosed higher after the government reported that the economy grew at 1.7 percent in the spring, better than the previous estimate of 1.5 percent.

Trading was slow, with many investors still on vacation and not much major news to influence any of the markets.

The 30-year bond followed a similar pattern. The yield edged up to 2.77 percent from 2.75 percent. The price fell 37.5 cents for every $100 invested.

In other trading, the yield on the two-year note rose to 0.28 percent from 0.26 percent. The yield on the five-year note rose to 0.69 percent from 0.67 percent. The yield on the three-month note held at 0.10 percent.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/treasury-yields-inch-higher-along-stocks-195139594--finance.html

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Prioritizing your Home Improvement To-Do List - Weekly Planet ...

If you are like many homeowners, you have a seemingly endless list of home improvement projects ' remodel the kitchen, paint the house, replace the roof' where to start? For most people, tackling all of the projects on the list at once would be infeasible, so some prioritizing is in order. We have compiled some tips to help you prioritize your home improvement to-do list in a way that makes sense for your situation:

First address repairs that will incur additional costs if neglected. Any issues with the home that will worsen and cost more money with time should be high priority. Water damage is a good example, as are foundation and roof problems. A water leak left unfixed could mean massive costs down the line, such as replacing water damaged walls and mold remediation. Unfortunately these types of repairs are less exciting than for instance remodeling the kitchen or installing new hardwood floors, but they are necessary for the longevity and value of the home.

Consider any necessary electrical, HVAC and plumbing repairs or upgrades. Ensuring that the mechanical aspects of the home are in working order is another phase of home improvement that may seem less than exciting, but in most cases function takes priority over aesthetics. It would be difficult to enjoy a newly remodeled bathroom without a functional water heater, or to enjoy anything about your home with a broken heater in freezing temperatures. Use your best judgment to determine what mechanical repairs are necessary.

Budget should be considered in planning your home improvement timeline. Your home improvement list probably has a mix of costly and less expensive projects. The financial magnitude of different projects should be considered as you prioritize. Expensive projects may be spaced out according to your financial means, with smaller projects filling the spaces between.

Separate fantasy from reality. There may be one or more items on your list that are more of "I wish I could.." than "I plan to'" There is nothing wrong with aiming high, but distinguishing which projects get the green light and which stay in the wish list category is a part of prioritizing. This does not mean you have to remove your fantasy projects from the list, but rather that it helps to be realistic about them when setting up your project timeline.

Prioritizing the order in which projects should be done and planning a realistic timeline based on your financial situation and the condition of your home can alleviate the anxiety of a seemingly never ending to-do list.

About the Author:

Maria Polidoro is the owner of Ace Tool, a leading dealer and service center for hand and power tools. Please visit Ace Tool to find the right carbide tipped hole saw, reciprocating saw, router and more from 70+ power tool brands.

Author: Maria Polidoro

Date August 29th, 2012 Filed in Home Improvement

Source: http://weeklyplanetpersonals.com/295915-Prioritizing-your-Home-Improvement-To-Do-List.html

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Hot spots pinpointed as earthquake trigger points: Small droplets of friction-generated melts can lead to 'megaquakes'

ScienceDaily (Aug. 29, 2012) ? Scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego have come a step closer to deciphering some of the basic mysteries and mechanisms behind earthquakes and how average-sized earthquakes may evolve into massive earthquakes.

In a paper published in the Aug. 30 issue of the journal Nature, Scripps scientists Kevin Brown and Yuri Fialko describe new information gleaned from laboratory experiments mimicking earthquake processes. The researchers discovered how fault zones weaken in select locations shortly after a fault reaches an earthquake tipping point.

They coined such locations as "melt welts" and describe the mechanism akin to an ice skater's blade reducing friction by melting the ice surface. The mechanism may be similar to "hot spots" known in automobile brake-clutch components.

"Melt welts appear to be working as part of a complicated feedback mechanism where complex dynamic weakening processes become further concentrated into initially highly stressed regions of a fault," said Brown, first author of the study and a professor in the Geosciences Research Division at Scripps. "The process allows highly stressed areas to rapidly break down, acting like the weakest links in the chain. Even initially stable regions of a fault can experience runaway slip by this process if they are pushed at velocities above a key tipping point."

"This adds to the fundamental understanding of the earthquake process because it really addresses the question of how these ruptures become energetic and dynamic and run away for long distances," said Fialko, a paper coauthor and a professor in the Cecil H. and Ida M. Green Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics at Scripps.

The study's results, supported by funding from the National Science Foundation, appear to help answer a longstanding paradox in seismology. Key fault zones such as the San Andreas Fault produce far too little heat from friction compared with the size and magnitude of the earthquakes they produce. Laboratory experiments show that thermal energy normally released by friction during slip can become rapidly reduced, potentially helping to account for a "low heat flow paradox." The melt welts also may help explain certain questions in earthquake rupture dynamics such as why some slowly slipping tremor-generating events can snowball into massive earthquakes if they pass a velocity tipping point.

"This may be relevant for how you get from large earthquakes to giant earthquakes," said Brown, who used the example of last year's magnitude 9.0 earthquake off Japan. "We thought that large patches of the fault were just creeping along at a constant rate, then all of a sudden they were activated and slipped to produce a mega earthquake that produced a giant tsunami."

Fialko says the melt welt finding could eventually lead to improved "shake" maps of ground-shaking intensities, as well as improvements in structural engineering plans. Future studies include investigations about why the melt welt weakening occurs and if it applies to most or all common fault zone materials, as well as field research to locate melt welts along fault zones.

The Scripps Marine Science Development Center provided the machinery used in the study's experiments.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of California - San Diego.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Kevin M. Brown, Yuri Fialko. ?Melt welt? mechanism of extreme weakening of gabbro at seismic slip rates. Nature, 2012; 488 (7413): 638 DOI: 10.1038/nature11370

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_environment/~3/Rg8aESnuMPM/120829131625.htm

Emmy Rossum Is 'Deliciously Evil' In 'Beautiful Creatures'

Actress talks exclusively with MTV News about magical role in big-screen adaptation.
By Amy Wilkinson

Emmy Rossum on the set of "Beautiful Creatures"
Photo: MTV News

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1692658/emmy-rossum-beautiful-creatures.jhtml

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Beltre lifts Rangers past Rays

Associated Press Sports

updated 10:55 p.m. ET Aug. 27, 2012

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) - Adrian Beltre extended his hot seven-game streak into another week.

Beltre was 3 for 3 with a home run and four RBIs, including driving in the go-ahead run in the bottom of the fifth inning, to lead the Texas Rangers to a 6-5 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night.

Elvis Andrus scored on Beltre's single to give the AL West leaders a series-opening win. Nelson Cruz also homered and Mike Olt added an RBI for Texas.

Derek Holland (9-6) got the win, giving up five runs - three earned - on six hits in six innings. He struck out five and walked one.

Beltre, who was selected AL player of the week after a three-homer game and another in which he hit for the cycle, is hitting .385 with six homers and 13 RBIs in his last eight games.

"He's locked in," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "We need everything he's giving us right now. He's one of the guys in our lineup that makes it work."

Relievers Alexi Ogando and Mike Adams, and closer Joe Nathan struck out six of the nine hitters they faced in working perfect seventh, eighth and ninth innings. Nathan earned his 23rd consecutive save opportunity and 26th this season.

Tampa Bay ace David Price (16-5) snapped a stretch of 12 consecutive quality starts in which he had pitched at least seven innings. The lefty, who entered with a majors-low 2.28 ERA and tied for the league lead for victories, didn't make it to the fifth, giving up six runs on 10 hits in four innings.

In eight career regular-season starts against the Rangers, Price is 1-3 with a 6.04 ERA. In four starts at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, his ERA is 10.26.

"I didn't feel like I was throwing the ball any different than I was during the stretch where I've been successful," Price said. "It's Texas, they're a good-hitting team, and they're feeling it right now."

The Rangers continually jumped on first-pitch fastballs.

"We were trying to look for a pitch we could handle," said Beltre, noting that Price likes to get ahead of hitters. "He comes after hitters, so we were ready."

The Rays entered with the AL's best road record (35-27), but found they were no match for Beltre.

Beltre, who reached base a fourth time with a walk in the seventh, and Cruz had back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the second to erase a 2-0 deficit - the first time Price has allowed consecutive homers in his career.

Olt's groundout to shortstop Ben Zobrist drove in the Rangers' third run.

Beltre's double with no outs in the third scored Elvis Andrus and Josh Hamilton to make the score 5-3. Price was able to limit the damage by retiring the next three hitters on two groundouts and a strikeout of Geovany Soto.

Over his last 65 games, Beltre is hitting .332 with 15 homers, 14 doubles and 44 RBIs.

"I don't know," Beltre said when asked if he's ever had a streak like the past eight games. "Probably. I don't keep track. Right now, I feel good. I feel comfortable, and have confidence offensively."

B.J. Upton's run-scoring triple and Zobrist's RBI single tied the score at 5-all in the fifth.

An error led to two unearned runs for the Rays in the first inning.

Upton reached base on a fielding miscue by Andrus at short, who then dropped a potential double play relay on the next hitter, Ben Zobrist, who reached on a fielder's choice.

Evan Longoria, who was 2 for 4, then took a 3-2 pitch deep off the left-field foul pole for a home run.

"We screwed up the first inning," Washington said, "but the offenses wouldn't stop."

The Rays' Nos. 5-9 hitters went 0 for 18 with eight strikeouts.

Notes: With the home run and a single, Longoria is hitting .435 (10 for 23) lifetime against Rangers starter Holland. ... Beltre has had 25 or more home runs in seven seasons. ... Price led the major leagues in ERA and tied for most wins entering Monday's game. In the last 50 years, only eight pitchers Sandy Koufax (1963, `65-66), Jim Palmer (1975), Ron Guidry (1978), Dwight Gooden (1985), Bret Saberhagen (1989), Greg Maddux (1995), Pedro Martinez (1999) and Johan Santana (2006) have finished the season leading the majors in both categories - and all have won the Cy Young.

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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