The Traderszone Network

The Illinois Supreme Court declared in a ruling Friday that the state’s landmark 2013 pension overhaul violates the state constitution, unraveling an effort by state lawmakers to rein in benefits for a public-sector pension system they have consistently underfunded over the years.
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U.S. stocks rose after a rebound in hiring last month bolstered optimism that economic growth is accelerating, but not fast enough to warrant higher interest rates in June.

April’s 223,000 nonfarm payrolls were strong enough to signal a rebound, but weak enough to hold off Fed rate hikes until the second half of the year.

Tesla is already building a 5-million-square-foot battery factory. Anyone can go online and place a reservation, years in advance, with no money down and no commitment to buy.

Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist at Wells Capital Management, says the government’s April jobs report was not as strong as it appeared.

Same-store sales at McDonald’s restaurants globally fell 0.6 percent in April, its 11th straight monthly decline. Same-restaurant sales grew 1 percent in Europe, as gains in the United Kingdom and Germany offset declines in the key markets of France and Russia amid economic volatility in the region. Shares of the world’s biggest restaurant chain were up 2 percent at $98.72 in morning trading, mirroring a rally in U.S. stocks following data that showed U.S. job growth rebounded last month in a sign the economy was picking up momentum.

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Puerto Rico is set to run out of cash by the end of September without additional financing, and may implement emergency measures, including defaulting on its debt obligations, according to a report by the U.S. territory’s fiscal agent. The measures could include steps to cut government spending and a “moratorium on the payment of debt service” and “a debt adjustment for the Commonwealth,” the island’s Government Development Bank said in a report published late Thursday.