Saturday, June 29, 2013

Gandolfini: A big man and everyman is eulogized

NEW YORK (AP) ? The funeral of James Gandolfini took place in one of the largest churches in the world and didn't stint on ceremony.

Still, the estimated 1,500 mourners who gathered Thursday in New York's Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine seemed part of an intimate affair. They came to pay their respects to a plain but complex man whose sudden death eight days before had left all of them feeling a loss.

During the service, Gandolfini was remembered by the creator of "The Sopranos" as an actor who had brought a key element to mob boss Tony Soprano: Tony's inner child-like quality.

For a man who, in so many ways, was an unrepentant brute, that underlying purity was what gave viewers permission to love him.

"You brought ALL of that to it," said David Chase in remarks he delivered as if an open letter to his fallen friend and "Sopranos" star.

Even though Gandolfini was indisputably a formidable man both on and off the screen, Chase also saw him as a boy ? "sad, amazed, confused and loving," he summed up, addressing his subject: "You could see it in your eyes. And that's why you are a great actor."

Susan Aston, who for decades was Gandolfini's dialogue coach and collaborator, spoke of how he wrestled to find truth in his performances.

"He worked hard," she said. "He was disciplined. He studied his roles and did his homework." But then, when the cameras rolled, his performance took over and, "through an act of faith, he allowed himself to go to an uncharted place. ... He remained vulnerable, and kept his heart open in his life and in his work."

The 51-year-old actor died of a heart attack last week while vacationing with his 13-year-old son in Italy. It was cruel end to a holiday meant to be part of a summer that Gandolfini was devoting to his family ? including his son and his 9-month-old daughter ? by even turning down a movie role, according to Aston, citing what she said was her final conversation with him.

Aston said he told her "I don't want to lose any of the time I have with Michael and Lily this summer."

The actor's widow, Deborah Lin Gandolfini, also spoke at the ceremony, as did longtime friend Thomas Richardson, who affectionately described Gandolfini as a man "who hugged too tight and held too long." But now facing a world without hugs from Gandolfini, Richardson invited the congregation to stand and share hugs with their neighbors.

"It is in hugging that we are hugged," he declared.

A private family wake was held for the actor Wednesday in New Jersey.

Broadway theaters paid tribute by dimming their lights briefly Wednesday night. Gandolfini was nominated for a Tony Award in 2009 as an actor in "God of Carnage."

For Thursday's service, celebrities and fellow actors helped make up the capacity audience.

Those from "The Sopranos" included Edie Falco, Joe Pantoliano, Dominic Chianese, Steve Schirripa, Aida Turturro, Vincent Curatola, Tony Sirico, Lorraine Bracco, Steve Buscemi and Michael Imperioli.

Others from the entertainment community included Julianna Margulies, Alec Baldwin, Chris Noth, Marcia Gay Harden, Dick Cavett and Steve Carell.

NBC News' Brian Williams was in attendance. So was New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

So was Saul Stein, 60, a resident of Harlem.

"I came to pay my respects today because he's a character I identify with, a family man," Stein said as he waited in line outside the church.

New Jersey accents were easy to hear among those hoping for a chance to get in. A few people spoke in Italian.

Of course, both New Jersey and Italian-Americans played a big part of "The Sopranos," which originally ran on HBO from 1999 to 2007.

Chase recalled a hot Jersey day early in the show's production that bonded him with Gandolfini ? with whom he shared Italian-American working-class roots ? for all times.

Waiting to shoot the next scene, Gandolfini was seated in an aluminum lawn chair with his slacks rolled up, black socks and black shoes exposed, and a damp cloth on his head in an effort to find some relief from the heat.

"I hadn't seen that done since my father used to do it, and my Italian uncle, and my grandfather," said Chase. "They were laborers in the hot sun of New Jersey."

"I was filled with love," Chase said, struggling to keep his composure, as he described the sight of Gandolfini in the broiling sun.

"I always felt we are brothers," he said, "based on that day."

___

Associated Press correspondent Bethan McKernan and Television Writer David Bauder contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gandolfini-big-man-everyman-eulogized-205655387.html

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Saturday, June 22, 2013

Wall St. Week Ahead: Stocks face more hurdles after Fed turbulence

By Angela Moon and Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bargain-hunters beware! Wall Street's 2 percent weekly fall may not be the buying opportunity for stocks that it might seem.

The stock market begins the last week of June still rattled by the U.S. Federal Reserve's plans for reducing its stimulus efforts, called quantitative easing, or QE.

Next week could bring more big intraday swings and volatility as asset managers reevaluate their portfolios to adjust to the new regime of diminishing support from the Fed.

The CBOE Volatility Index <.vix>, Wall Street's "fear gauge," rose 10.2 percent this week, ending Friday at 19. The index has risen in four of the past five weeks since Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke first broached the phasing out of stimulus.

"The angst over the Fed is going to cause people to reprice. Hedge funds are part that group. But I don't believe they are the only ones selling," said Ken Polcari, director of the NYSE floor division at O'Neil Securities in New York.

"Hedge funds are nimble, so they are the ones that can move the money around. With the VIX at 20, people get fearful, they want their cash."

Polcari said large asset managers also were likely to be moving around money.

WARNING SIGNS

With the Fed putting the market on notice that it will be weaned from easy money, possibly beginning before long, investors are going to look at the broad picture, which has plenty of warning signs. Economic growth remains spotty, Chinese credit markets are showing stress and interest rates are on the rise.

One reason for equity investors to worry is the second-quarter earnings outlook. Earnings warnings from companies for the second quarter outnumber positive outlooks by 6.5 to 1, the most negative ratio since the first quarter of 2001, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Investors say the impact of Washington's automatic federal spending cuts, known as sequester, is part of the cause.

The sequester has already had an impact on technology companies, and higher tax rates that took effect earlier this year, have hurt consumer businesses.

Among the sectors with the worst outlooks for the second quarter, consumer discretionaries top the list, with 21 warnings and just two positive outlooks. Technology was another, with 27 warnings and 6 positive outlooks, Thomson Reuters data showed.

"This quarter will have the most negative impact from the sequester," said Natalie Trunow, chief investment officer of equities at Calvert Investment Management, which has about $13 billion in assets.

"Combined with the tapering of QE, it could further dampen market sentiment, so we could be in for a little further softness in the equity market for a couple of months."

Among the 10 companies that have already reported for the quarter, a few have been cause for concern. Oracle posted disappointing software sales and blamed weaker-than-expected sales in Asia and Latin America. Its shares were down 8.8 percent at $30.30 on Friday.

Federal Express , while it posted a stronger-than-expected quarterly profit, cut jobs and said it was retiring some older, less efficient airplanes.

FALLING EARNINGS SEEN

Forecasts for S&P 500 earnings in the second quarter have declined sharply, from an April 1 forecast of 6.1 percent growth to this week's forecast of 3.2 percent growth.

If second-quarter earnings come in as forecast, they would mark a drop from the first quarter's 5.4 percent increase in earnings. However, estimates tend to start out high, then get cut as the earnings period nears. Then, typically, companies surpass the lowered forecasts.

"We've had that for several quarters and we could be looking at some of that again," Trunow said.

Banks, which are sensitive to interest rate changes, will be among the earliest companies to report. U.S. Treasuries yields rose to the highest in 22 months as a result of worries about the Fed's cutting back its monthly purchases of bonds. While the reduced stimulus could help if it boosts net interest margins, there are concerns that trading losses could hit some of the biggest banks.

Earnings projections for the rest of the year are better, with third-quarter growth forecast to rise 8.7 percent and fourth-quarter 13.1 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data.

If the Fed's expectations are correct and the economic data show strength, they will serve as a tailwind for stocks.

"Remember that (Fed) tapering would be a vote of confidence in the market, which would be good news," said David Joy, who helps oversee $708 billion in assets as chief market strategist at Ameriprise Financial in Boston.

Despite the week's 2.1 percent loss, the S&P 500 has risen 11.7 percent for the year without a major correction.

(Reporting by Angela Moon and Caroline Valetkevitch; additional reporting by Steve Johnson and Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Kenneth Barry)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wall-st-week-ahead-stocks-face-more-hurdles-000902671.html

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