Monday News Round Up: North Korea Missile Fire, Columbus Day, Health Care Bill

N.Korea fires missiles, declares ‘no sail’ zone

SEOUL, Oct 12 (Reuters) – North Korea has fired five short-range missiles off its east coast and declared a ‘no sail’ zone in the area from Oct. 10-20, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency quoted a government source as saying on Monday.

South Korean government officials were not immediately available for comment.

US Celebrates Columbus Day

Americans are celebrating Columbus Day Monday.

Columbus Day is a federal holiday observed on the second Monday in October, marking the anniversary of arrival of Christopher Columbus to the Americas.

Lobbyists Out in Full Force as Senate Prepares to Vote on Health Care Bill Tuesday

As the Senate Finance Committee prepares to vote Tuesday on its version of health care legislation, White House officials say they have momentum as the narrative shifts from whether a bill will pass to what it will contain.

But, even as conservative commentators admit that health care overhaul will happen, lobbyists are leading a final push to sidetrack the legislation.

A new report by health industry lobbyists at America’s Health Insurance Plans, prepared by consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, concludes that health coverage costs for families would increase by 111 percent in the next 10 years under provisions proposed by the Senate Finance Committee. That means costs would jump, on average, to $25,900 for families by 2019, and to $9,700 for individuals.

US Stocks Slightly Higher As Busy Earnings Week Begins

U.S. stocks were trading slightly higher Monday after last week’s strong gains and as a busy week of earnings gets underway.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was higher by about 3 points. The Dow gained 4% last week, snapping a string of two straight weekly declines, ending trading on Friday at its highest level since Oct. 6, 2008. The S&P 500 rose 0.3% to 1075.06. The Nasdaq also rose 0.3% to 2147.81.

The dollar, which has been on a long-term slide, was slightly stronger against the euro and the yen. The Dollar Index, which tracks the dollar against a basket of major currencies, is down 5.9% year-to-date.

Stephen Pope, chief global market strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald Europe, said a weaker dollar is “allowing non-dollar based investors to acquire U.S. assets and ‘cheap valuations’ when reflected back into their base currency. The S&P 500 is on a price/earnings basis trading at a discount to the MSCI World Index of 23 developing countries.”