Stocks Up on Bullard Comments, BlackBerry Slumpes as Deal Fails

U.S. stocks opened higher on Monday after St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said the central bank can be patient about paring its bond purchases. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately advanced 30.72 points, or 0.20%, to 15,646.27. The S&P 500 was up 3.48 point, or 0.20%, to 1,765.12. The Nasdaq Composite tacked on 2.55 points, or 0.07%, to 3,924.59.

Low inflation allows the Federal Reserve to be patient before scaling back its bond-buying
program, and fears that the program will lead to a 1970s-style inflation outbreak are overblown, the president of the St. Louis Fed Bank said on Monday.

BlackBerry’s future took a decidedly radical turn Monday morning amid reports that Fairfax
Financial Inc. would not proceed with plans to take the company private. It will receive a $1
billion investment via convertible bonds from Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. and other
institutional investors, concluding a strategic review process that will see the departure of
Chief Executive Thorsten Heins.

Millions of people could qualify for federal subsidies that will pay the entire monthly cost of
some health care plans being offered in the online marketplaces set up under President Obama’s
health care law.

Google Inc Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt said widespread U.S. government spying on its data centers would be outrageous and potentially illegal if true, the Wall Street Journal reported.