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10A Daily News – Friday, May 4, 2012 US stocks fall after conflicting economic reports Wall Street By DANIEL WAGNER AP Business Writer Wall Street gnawed on a muddle of economic data and corporate earn- ings news Thursday, then sent stock indexes lower for a second day. Disappointing April sales results from big retailers set the bleak tone early on. Costco, Macy's and Target, among others, reported sales that were weaker than analysts had predicted. Colder weather and renewed concerns about the economy weighed on shoppers. GM shares fell 2.4 per- cent after the automaker said its first-quarter profit declined, mainly because of weakness in Europe. Fears of a global finan- cial freeze-up caused by the European debt crisis have receded, but many now worry that Europe's recession will hurt sales by American exporters such as GM and Caterpil- lar. Caterpillar lost 1.9 percent. European stocks closed mostly lower, giv- ing up earlier gains, after signs that European Cen- tral Bank will not inject more cash into the region's fragile banking system. Trading of U.S. stocks monthly jobs report) will look like,'' said Peter Tchir, who runs the hedge fund TF Market Advisors. The labor market has been on traders' minds all week because the govern- ment's monthly jobs report is due out Friday. The final major indicator before that announcement was positive: The number of people applying for unemployment benefits fell last week by the most in three months. index fell. Two rose, but barely. trial average fell 61.98 points, or 0.5 percent, to 13,206.59. The S&P 500 dropped 10.74, or 0.8 per- cent, to 1,391.57. The Nasdaq composite aver- age slid 35.55, or 1.2 per- cent, to 3,024.30 The Dow Jones indus- was uneven because investors were ''balancing between a weak close for European stocks and try- ing to bet on what (the The conflicting eco- nomic indicators offered little direction for major U.S. stock indexes. They opened down, rose slight- ly in the first 15 minutes of trading then turned lower. Eight of the 10 industry groups in the Standard & Poor's 500 The Carlyle Group, a big, politically-connected private equity firm, edged higher after an initial pub- lic offering that raised $671 million. The compa- ny had priced its stock below the expected range late Wednesday. Carlyle, trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker ''CG,'' has about $147 billion in assets under management. Other swinging stocks: — Green Mountain tridges said late Wednes- day that its earnings for the fiscal year ending in September will be far below its previous fore- cast and analysts' esti- mates. Green Mountain shares have lost more than three-fourths of their value since September. — Cablevision Sys- tems Corp. dropped 7.9 percent after its first-quar- ter revenue fell short of analysts' expectations and profit declined sharply. — Viacom Inc., owner of MTV and Paramount Pictures, rose 3.4 percent after saying its net income rose sharply as its TV net- works brought in more revenue. Coffee Roasters Inc. plunged 47.8 percent. The maker of single-cup cof- fee machines and car- — Orbitz Worldwide Inc. rose 4.4 percent after narrowing its first-quarter loss and beating analysts' estimates. Tulip Time festival in Michigan may be 'stemfest' Time festival in West Michigan is looking like it might be more of a ''stemfest'' this year after unseasonably warm weather encouraged the flowers to bloom earlier than usual. HOLLAND, Mich. (AP) — The annual Tulip The parks department in Holland, a city known for its Dutch heritage which has hosted the festival for more than 80 years, estimated Monday that about 40 percent of the 500,000 flowers planted will be in bloom next week. But many more will be past their prime. Nevertheless, Tulip Time organizers are embrac- ing the otherwise troublesome presence of so many flowerless stems; they'll start selling $10 ''stem- fest'' shirts and $1 buttons on Friday, the day before the weeklong festival opens. ''I hope people have fun with it,'' Susan Zalnis, Tulip Time's marketing manager, told The Holland Sentinel. The black T-shirts depict a wilting white tulip missing its petals. Festival officials first started talking about ordering the merchandise in March, when temperatures were in the 80s. Then the weath- er cooled off and they were not sure when the blooms would appear. ''We thought we might just keep them in the box,'' Zalnis said of the merchandise. There are only 300 of the shirts in stock at the Tulip Time offices, Zalnis said, so they could be a hot commodity. A Holland business, meanwhile, is selling its own ''Stem Fest'' clothing. Harbor Wear is offering $27 sweatshirts and $16 T-shirts for the Tulip Time festivities. Penny Doan, team leader at the store, said they sold similar items about a decade ago. ''We had an extra warm spring, and used to have Tulip Time a week later,'' Doan told The Grand Rapids Press. ''This year, we definitely needed them with that warm weather in March.'' Regardless of how many flowers are in bloom, Tulip Time Executive Director Gwen Auwerda said they're expecting a good festival. ''Some visitors will come to Holland and focus on the remaining tulips; others will only see the stems,'' Auwerda said. ''It's all a matter of one's perspective.''