Daily Archives: 06/13/2013

(Community Matters) from Politico Playbook:

SAUSAGE-MAKING – WSJ A1, “Traders Pay for an Early Peek at Key Data,” by Brody Mullins, Michael Rothfeld, Tom McGinty and Jenny Strasburg : “Economic reports from public universities, trade groups and other nongovernmental organizations can move markets as surely as official data from the U.S. government. But unlike government reports, where pains are taken to make certain no one gets them ahead of time, few rules control release of nongovernmental economic reports. Unknown to many investors, selling early access is routine. … Besides the [University of] Michigan consumer-sentiment survey, reports released early to paying customers include a Chicago-based barometer of business activity and a widely followed manufacturing index from the Institute for Supply Management … Other organizations, including trade associations and private research firms, sell data that move industry-specific stocks and futures markets on everything from agriculture to truck sales. …

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(Community Matters) In WAPO, an underreported but important new administration initiative, publicly funded preschool for 4 year olds. 

In many ways, it’s hard for politicians to argue against the idea of helping small, wide-eyed children who leap with excitement at the alphabet song. But the dividends that come from preschool investment — higher rates of high school graduation and employment, lower rates of incarceration and teen pregnancy — don’t materialize until years down the line, way past the next election. And the idea of funding preschool by nearly doubling the federal tobacco tax — from $1.01 to $1.95 per pack of cigarettes — is anathema to many Republicans.