AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)

Target (TGT), a Dividend Aristocrat, will double its bonus payments to salaried employees this year, as profits recover from a bumpy nearly 2-year stretch.  Salaried employees receive an annual bonus, based on company performance& the eligible amount set as part of their compensation.  The retailer will pay 100% of employees' eligible annual bonus amounts for the most recent fiscal year, an increase from 50% in the prior year.  The annual bonus payout is based on how the retailer performs against sales & profit goals set at the beginning of the fiscal year.  “Based on Target’s performance in 2023, including the $2 billion in additional profit growth our team delivered that exceeded the goals we set at the beginning of the year, we’re rewarding our team accordingly,” the company said.  TGT will pay out the annual cash bonuses in late Mar.  The amount paid out won't be as high as it could be, however.  It tops out at 175% of each employee's eligible bonus amount.  The vast majority of approximately 415K employees, such as those at its stores & warehouses, are paid hourly & do not qualify for the bonuses.  Yet it does offer bonuses to store & supply-chain leaders, along with many corp employees.  Top execs have a different bonus structure.  The stock fell 30¢.

Microsoft (MSFT), a Dow stock, is releasing its first Surface PCs featuring a dedicated Copilot button on the keyboard for quickly accessing the chatbot, following through on a promise that it made in Jan.  The addition of the button, to the left of the arrow keys, represents the biggest change to the computer keyboard in decades.  While MSF is not the largest PC seller, that distinction belongs to Lenovo, it does run the most popular operating system with Windows.  Lenovo has announced its own PCs featuring Copilot keys, as have Dell (Dell) & HP (HPQ).  But the Surface has in the past been a showcase of what a Windows machine can be, & MSFT is trying to articulate the convenience of having generative artificial intelligence one keystroke away with the 2 new PCs: its new convertible Surface Pro 10 for Business & Surface Laptop 6 for Business.  When people type a few words in to the Copilot, which draws on AI models from MSFT-backed OpenAI, servers in faraway data centers perform the necessary computing work to craft a response.  MSFT calls these new machines AI PCs.  The new key, which allows users to open the Copilot panel any time on the right side of the screen, helps matters, along with the silicon inside.  Each computer comes packed with an Intel (INTC), a Dow stock, Core Ultra processor containing a special neural processing engine, or NPU.  Surface computers have featured NPUs since 2019.  MSFT stock rose 4.14.

Microsoft debuts first Surface PCs with dedicated Copilot AI button

US Weekly Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Fall

Gold Climbs to a Record on Expectations Lower Interest Rates are on the Way

Oil prices settled slightly lower, pressured by weaker US gasoline demand data and reports of a UN draft resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.  Brent crude futures for May settled down 17¢ to $85.78 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate futures for May settled own 20¢ to $81.07 a barrel after a fall of about 1.8% in the previous session.  Crude inventories in the US, the world's biggest oil consumer, unexpectedly declined last week, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported yesterday.  Though gasoline inventories fell for a 7th week, down 3.3M barrels to 230.8M, gasoline product supplied, a proxy for product demand, slipped below 9M barrels.  The fall suggested that gasoline markets, which had underpinned a recent market rally, may have been overbought.  Oil prices also were pressured by confirmation that the US drafted a UN resolution calling for a ceasefire that would allow the release of 40 Israeli hostages in return for hundreds of Palestinians detained in Israeli jails.

Oil Settles Lower on Weaker US Gasoline Demand, Gaza Ceasefire Hopes

Dow Jones Industrials