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U.S. stocks ended a choppy day of trading lower Monday, as a dismal economic outlook overshadowed earlier optimism fueled by takeover talk.

After starting the session sharply higher and seesawing throughout the day, the Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) lost 39 points, or 0.4%, the S&P 500 (SPX) ticked down 4 points, or 0.4%, and the Nasdaq (COMP) composite dropped 20 points, or 0.9%.

It’s been a rocky ride for Wall Street over the past couple of weeks, as investors have shifted their focus between positive company news and gloomy economic readings.

Disappointing reports on jobs, manufacturing and economic activity battered confidence last week, dragging the Dow and S&P lower for the second straight week.

With little economic news on tap Monday, investors turned their attention to talk about takeover activity. But an early comeback failed to gain steam, ending in yet another down day for the three major indices.

"We’re trying to reverse some of those losses," said Steven Goldman, a market strategist at Weeden & Co. "But since economic data has been showing gradual signs of weakness there’s still an overshadowing concern that will likely keep any rally narrow and in a defensive tone."

Economy: No major economic releases were scheduled Monday, so investors were already looking ahead to the government’s revised reading of GDP due Friday, said Dave Rovelli, managing director of U.S. equities at Canaccord Adams.

Gross domestic product (GDP), the broadest measure of the nation’s economic activity, is forecast to be revised down to an annual rate of 1.4%, a significant drop from its previous reading of 2.4%.

"Everybody knows it’s going to be revised down, so everybody is nervous and just waiting for that number," said Rovelli. "But because it’s the last two weeks of August and stocks tend to drift higher when trading volume is so light, you may see the market start to rally until that GDP number comes out."

Last week, investors were hit with a slew of dismal indicators, including a report showing that weekly jobless claims surged to the highest level since November high risk personal loans.

Companies: Hewlett-Packard put in a bid early Monday for data-storage company 3PAR, offering $1.6 billion, a 33.3% premium on the offer proposed by rival Dell last week. Shares of 3PAR (PAR) spiked nearly 45%, while Dell’s (DELL, Fortune 500) stock slipped 1% and shares of HP (HP) fell 2%.

Shares of fertilizer producer Potash (POT) closed slightly higher after its board of directors told shareholders to reject a hostile takeover bid of $38 billion from mining company BHP Billiton (BHP), saying "superior offers or other alternatives are expected to emerge." Shares of BHP fell less than 1%.

The Gulf Coast Claims Facility, led by Kenneth Feinberg, will take over the BP oil spill claims process Monday. The claims will be paid using the $20 billion escrow account established by BP (BP). Shares of the oil company dipped less than 1%.

World markets: European shares closed higher. The CAC 40 in France rose 0.8%, Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 0.8% and the DAX in Germany was up 0.1%.

Asian markets slipped. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei index ended down 0.7%, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong fell 0.4% and the Shanghai Composite edged lower 0.1%.

Currencies and commodities: The dollar rose against the euro and the U.K. pound, but fell versus the Japanese yen.

Oil futures for October delivery slipped 72 cents to settle at $73.10 a barrel. Gold for December delivery edged down 30 cents to $1,228.50.

Bonds: Treasury prices were higher, and the yield on the 10-year note fell to 2.60% from 2.62% late Friday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite direction.

Market breadth: Market breadth was negative. On the New York Stock Exchange, losers outnumbered winners by two to one on volume of 865 million shares. On the Nasdaq, decliners beat advancers by nearly three to one on volume of 1.7 billion shares. 

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Exploration Place on Friday announced that Sharon Miles has joined the staff as director of development.

Miles, a certified fundraising executive, will oversee all aspects of fundraising and membership and volunteer programs at the museum.

She was most recently Wichita State University’s senior director of development and led philanthropic efforts for the school’s Fairmont College of Liberal Arts and Sciences easy payday loans.

Miles, who holds a degree in finance and economics from WSU, also is the immediate past president of the Greater Wichita Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

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Prices of Kansas City-area homes are expected to fluctuate until fall, then begin a slow, steady rise.

That prediction led off the Kansas City Regional Association of Realtors’ monthly statistical report about the metro-area housing market. According to the report, prices of new homes will rise more quickly than those of existing homes because of declining new home inventory.

“Unemployment is (another) vital ingredient in the formula,” KCRAR said in a release, “and (the National Association of Realtors) has predicted a slight decrease in 2011, which will help sales and prices of existing homes. Interest rates are still at historic lows, but are expected to rise in 2011 and, as that occurs, it may encourage some buyers to ‘get off the fence.’”

In June, KCRAR reported, 2,599 new and existing homes in the Kansas City area sold. That was down 10 percent from the previous month’s total (2,878) and down 3 percent from June 2009 (2,671).

June saw 308 new home sales, a 23 percent increase from a year earlier (251) and a 31 percent increase from May (236).

The association reported 2,291 existing home sales in June. That was down 5 percent from a year earlier (2,420) and down 13 percent from the May total (2,642).

The average new home price in June was $296,768, which was 2 percent lower than a year earlier ($302,628). The average existing home price was $167,487, up 4 percent from June 2009 ($160,487).

The number of new homes on the market continued its steady decline in June. The total new home inventory of 1,624 last month was down only slightly from 1,638 in May but represented a 37 percent drop from June 2009 (2,587).

Resale inventory in June included 15,839 homes, which was 3 percent higher than in May (15,367) and 13 percent higher than a year earlier (14,049).

The area’s supply of new and existing homes — calculated by dividing inventory by the 12-month average number of sales — rose to a 7.7-month supply in June from a 7.5-month supply in May.

When supply exceeds six months, the market is considered to favor buyers. When it’s less than five months, the market favors sellers.

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Wichita home sales in June were down about 1 percent from the same period a year ago, according to data from the Wichita Area Association of Realtors.

The change came as the final closings were being reported from the federal government’s home buyer tax credit programs. Buyers utilizing the program had to close on their purchases by June 30.

A total of 896 homes were sold in the Wichita area during June, down from 906 in June 2009 no fax payday loans.

June’s numbers followed three consecutive months in which sales increased year-over-year.

Of the homes sold last month, 769 of them were existing homes and 127 were new.

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The American Board of Internal Medicine sanctioned 139 physicians for soliciting or sharing confidential examination questions used to certify doctors in internal medicine and its subspecialties.

Officials at ABIM, which is based in Philadelphia, also said the board initiated legal action in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania last week against five physicians who were among the most egregious offenders.

The sanctioned physicians participated in Arora Board Review, an independent test-preparation course provider based in Livingston, N.J., that purported to help physicians prepare for board certification exams. Participants in the course were allegedly encouraged to relay questions from memory to the company immediately after they took an ABIM examination. They were also allegedly provided with questions obtained by other physicians who had completed ABIM examinations.

Through an extensive investigation, ABIM established that the physicians being sanctioned shared or solicited actual ABIM examination questions — which it called a significant breach in the professional standards ABIM requires of all of its board-certified physicians and any physician taking the exam for certification bad credit payday advance. Hundreds of questions were compromised and immediately removed from the ABIM exam question pool.

“Physicians are, and should be, held to an exceptionally high standard of clinical skill and ethical behavior,” said Dr. Christine K. Cassel, ABIM’s president and CEO. “Board certification provides patients with assurance that the physicians they choose are competent and knowledgeable in their chosen field of practice. Through the actions we are taking today, we are telling patients that they can trust this process; and we are sending a very clear message to physicians. Anyone who seeks to compromise the integrity of our examinations will face swift and serious consequences.”

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The number of first-time filers for unemployment insurance fell last week for a fourth straight week, according to a weekly government report released Thursday.

There were 444,000 initial jobless claims filed in the week ended May 8, down 4,000 from an downwardly revised 448,000 the previous week, according to the Labor Department’s weekly report. The number of claims is the lowest since the 442,000 reported in the week ended March 27.

The number of claims was slightly higher than expected. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had expected new claims to fall to 440,000.

The downward trend in initial claims continues to show general improvement in the economy, and is consistent with monthly reports that show employers are starting to add jobs, said Michael Hanson, senior economist with Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

The government’s latest monthly jobs report, released Friday, showed employers added 290,000 jobs in April, the best gain in four years.

The four-week moving average for weekly initial claims was 450,500, down 9,000 from the previous week. The Labor Department tracks the four-week moving average of the weekly figures, to smooth out the volatility of the measure.

Initial claims have been stuck in the mid- to upper 400,000s since November, but seem to be hitting some resistance once they drop around 450,000.

While the recent decline in the four-week average is encouraging, economists are really looking for the number to get below 400,000 to spur sustainable job growth, said Tim Quinlan, an economist with Wells Fargo Securities.

Quinlan said he expects to see gradual improvement in payrolls through the course of the year, but no dramatic increases in job growth until initial claims fall below 400,000.

Also showing some resistance, instead of a consistent trend, are continuing claims, the number tracking people who file for unemployment benefits for two weeks or more. The government said 4,627,000 people filed continuing claims in the week ended May 1, the most recent data available. That was up 12,000 from the preceding week, but overall is still much improved over the 6,389,000 continuing claims reported in the comparable week last year.

"If you just got laid off and trying to find a job, it’s still a really difficult environment, and the climb in continuing claims tells us it’s taking people a while to land their feet in a job," Quinlan said.

Standard unemployment benefits usually last 26 weeks. The continuing claims number does not include those who have moved into state or federal extensions, or people whose benefits have expired.  

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The number of Americans filing initial claims for unemployment insurance fell for the third straight week, according to weekly government data released Thursday.

There were 444,000 initial jobless claims filed in the week ended May 1, down 7,000 from a revised 451,000 the previous week, according to the Labor Department’s weekly report.

Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had expected new claims to fall to 440,000 in the latest week. The number of new claims was the lowest since the 442,000 reported in the week ended March 27.

The Labor Department also tracks the four-week moving average of initial claims, which smoothes out volatility in the measure. That number was 458,500 for the week, down 4,750 from the previous week’s revised average of 463,250.

"Things are lining up for recovery, but it’s slower in its evolution than we expected," said Carl Riccadonna, U.S. economist for Deutsche Bank in New York.

A lack of economic confidence could be keeping hiring managers on the sidelines, according to Riccadonna. Jobless claims at or below 400,000 could help to boost morale.

"It’s not helped when you look on TV and see developments in Europe and people worried about the impact of trans-Atlantic contagion," he said.

The number of people filing continuing claims totaled 4,594,000 in the week ended April 24, the most recent data available. That figure was down 59,000 from the preceding week’s revised 4,653,000 claims, and slightly below the 4,600,000 economists expected, according to Briefing.com. Continuing claims were down for the fifth straight week.

The four-week moving average for continuing claims totaled 4,649,000, up 8,000 from the preceding week’s revised average of 4,641,000.

Continuing claims data exclude people whose benefits expired or those who have moved to state or federal extensions. It reflects those filing each week after their initial claim until the end of their standard benefits, which usually last 26 weeks.

In April, lawmakers in the House and Senate approved an extension of unemployment insurance until June 2. The move followed a number of tax breaks andother measures designed to spur job growth and help push the current 9.7% unemployment rate lower.

Although many economists say the measures are slowly working, states are still feeling the pinch and jobless claims would have to fall further, faster, before the national unemployment rate ticks lower no fax pay day loan.

There has been increasing debate over whether the decline in continuing claims is due to real job creation or people exhausting their benefits. Riccadonna says there’s no easy way to tell, but that "if the pace of job creation continues to accelerate, we can be increasingly confident that the drop in continuing claims is people finding jobs and not just rolling off the books."

Jobless claims fell the most in Florida, with a dip of 2,766 in the week ended April 24, primarily due to fewer layoffs in the construction, service, and manufacturing industries.

North Carolina and New York also saw dips in the 2,600 range. California, Massachusetts and Oregon topped the list of states with the largest increases in initial claims.

The report follows a spate of upbeat economic data in recent weeks. But that has been overshadowed by fears that Greece’s debt crisis could spread throughout Europe.

Riccadonna said that he is not overly concerned about the impact on the United States in the short term, beyond some "exchange rate effect." However, a significant decline in the euro to $1.15 could hurt the competitiveness of U.S. exports, which he says has been a key driver in the recovery so far.

Three separate reports on Wednesday pointed to strong signs of jobs growth when the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases its official read of the unemployment situation on Friday. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com forecast that the U.S. added 187,000 jobs in April, compared to a gain of 162,000 in the prior month.

Still, total hiring would need to be 200,000 or more a month to push the rate down significantly, he said. Given recent economic data, he thinks the "big one" could come as early as May.

Although the nation is expected to have added jobs last month, many economists forecast the unemployment rate, also due Friday, to remain unchanged at 9.7%. Riccadonna is a bit more optimistic, forecasting a slight tick down to 9.6%.

"Really substantial gains in excess of 300,000 should be sufficiently jarring enough to wake up hiring managers and also the financial markets," said Riccadonna. "We’re turning the corner. The question is how fast?"  

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AirTran Airways launched daily nonstop service May 4 from Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids, Mich., to Orlando International Airport and Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.

Orlando-based AirTran will also initiate service from Fort Myers and Tampa to Grand Rapids in June.

AirTran Airways is a subsidiary of AirTran Holdings Inc. (NYSE: AAI).

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Travelers had a better overall experience on airlines in 2009, according to the annual Airline Quality Report.

Airlines improved in three of the four categories used to determine the rankings.

Dean Headley, associate professor of marketing at Wichita State University, will present the report and overall airline scores in Washington, D.C. Monday.

He will be joined by Paul Bowen, a former professor at WSU who is now the head of the aviation technology department at Purdue University.

The AQR uses information the airlines report to the U.S. Department of Transportation regarding on-time performance, involuntary denied boardings, mishandled bags and customer complaints to determine an overall score for the industry and individual airlines.

The industry scored better compared to 2008 in on-time performance, mishandled bags and customer complaints. It scored worse in 2009 on involuntary denied boardings.

Hawaiian Airlines had the best on-time performance, 92.1 percent, in 2009. Atlantic Southeast Airlines had the worst at 71.2 percent.

Fourteen airlines improved on-time performance in 2009, but only six of the 18 rated had on-time percentages higher than 80 percent.

American Eagle had the highest rate of involuntary denied boardings at 3.76 per 10,000 passengers.

Jet Blue was perfect in that category, scoring no involuntary denied boardings.

AirTran Airways had the best baggage handling rate at 1.67 mishandled bags per 1,000 passengers. Atlantic Southeast scored the worst at 7.87 mishandled bags per 1,000 passengers.

However, all 18 of the airlines rated improved their baggage handling scores in 2009.

Southwest Airlines had the rate of customer complaints at 0.21 percent per 100,000 passengers. Delta Air Lines had the highest rate at 1.96 customer complaints per 100,000 passengers.

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Mobile ad exchange Mobclix Inc. reports Sunday morning that there were 3,000 iPad apps available and only about 20 percent of them were free.

If being one of the first 600,000 to 700,000 estimated iPad owners after the first day of sales isn't status enough for the dedicated Apple Inc. fanatic, they can have all the apps available as of the time of the Mobclix report for $12,572.78.

The average price of an iPad app, Mobclix reports, is $4.99.

Games make up the biggest segment of apps available, with 942 and only 138 of those are free.

Click here to read more Business Journal stories about the iPad launch.

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