US factories grew last month at slowest pace in a year

WASHINGTON — US factories expanded last month at the slowest pace in a year, as orders, production, and hiring all declined.

The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing managers, says its manufacturing index fell to 53.5 in January from 55.1 in December. That is the third straight drop and lowest since January 2014. Any reading above 50 signals expansion.

Several trends are slowing factory output: Overseas economies are faltering and the dollar has increased in value, cutting export demand. And the sharp drop in oil prices since last June has driven U.S. oil and gas drillers to order less drilling equipment and machinery.

New orders are still growing, but at the slowest pace in a year, the survey found. Factories added jobs, but at the weakest pace since June.

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Super Bowl ads: The best, the worst, the movies and NBC

Super Bowl advertising is almost invariably overrated, which doesn't spare us from the impulse -- even the need -- to rate it.

As usual, the hype surrounding the ads turned many into a super-bust, suggesting that the folks on Madison Avenue are either bereft of ideas or, in some instances, taking too much advantage of liberalized pot laws.

There was some excitement going into the game about an influx of relatively new advertisers, offering the promise of new blood. But just as a wave of newcomers in 2000 preceded the dot-com meltdown, this year's crop of novice sponsors merely exposed a lot of not-ready-for-primetime players in the marketing world.

Of course, the criticism isn't limited to the new guys. Car companies in general had a bad day. And Budweiser- which traditionally wields the biggest stick during the game - didn't so much come up with new creative as recycle it, going back to the cross-species love affair between puppies and Clydesdales and erecting a giant Pac-Man maze to prove that, um, what was the point of that Bud Light spot again? (Admittedly, the puppy ad will no doubt be one of the day's most popular in snap polls.)

The overall mix once again seemed to careen from the hopelessly schmaltzy ("Care makes a man stronger," says Dove) to the simply goofy (Doritos strapping a rocket to a pig) to the borderline bizarre, such as Snickers dropping Danny Trejo and Steve Buscemi into an old "The Brady Bunch" episode.

There was also a surplus of poorly utilized celebrities, including Mindy Kaling for Nationwide; Kim Kardashian for T-Mobile, along with Chelsea Handler and Sarah Silverman; and Pierce Brosnan for Kia. And while Liam Neeson was great, can anybody remember what the product was?

Another subcategory would be the overproduced extravaganza, such as Mercedes' CGI "Tortoise & the Hare" retelling or Bud Light's aforementioned Pac-Man spot. Some of these fare well in audience surveys, but the link between creative and advertiser is so tenuous the benefits often seem exaggerated. And while it's not necessarily fair, both Microsoft and Toyota's ads featuring people walking thanks to prosthetic blades were undermined in part by the specter of Olympic runner Oscar Pistorius, who was found guilty of murder last year.

Finally, there were the public-service announcements, with the sobering NoMore.org domestic violence spot - which resonated in light of the NFL's Ray Rice fiasco - and Always' "Like a Girl" campaign. Yet as compelling as those spots were, they almost have to be broken out separately from more directly commercial advertising.

So what were the principal highlights and lowlights? Separating out movies (which are essentially their own animal), public-service announcements and NBC's promos for its midseason lineup, they loosely breakdown as follows:

THE BEST

ESurance: Tapping Bryan Cranston in "Breaking Bad" mode was a genius move, mostly because of the instant cool the association creates in the mind of the show's fans. In this case, they really did have a lot of us at hello.

Fiat: Look, we all know car ads are essentially about sex. Fiat made the connection overt by dropping a Viagra tablet into one of its cars. If not the best ad of the day, it was the most truthful, since it's hard to think of any other reason to drive a Fiat.

Carnival Cruises: Wedding John F. Kennedy's voice discussing man's love affair with the ocean to beautiful imagery of ships at sea accomplished the near-impossible: It almost made me forget Kathie Lee Gifford and think, at least momentarily, about taking a Carnival Cruise. Plus, in practical terms, the Kennedy-era contingent probably a big part of the company's target demo.

Coca-Cola: While it's unlikely spilling Coke on the Internet will sap the venom out of Web comments and our political discourse, it's hard not to applaud the underlying sentiment and idealism. Notably, McDonald's went for a similar uplifting spiel with its "Pay With Lovin'" ad, which is probably effective from a marketing standpoint but felt cloying as a commercial.

BMW: Great idea reuniting of Katie Couric and Bryant Gumbel, using a 20-year-old clip of the former "Today" cohosts to make a point about technology. Even if you don't much care for the talent, it was certainly clever.

Avocados: The idea of going back to the first draft for the Ark was very funny and well suited to the occasion.

Wix.com: Using former NFL stars to pitch its service was an amusing, quick and easy way of explaining what the company offers.

THE WORST

Nationwide: "This kid never grew up because he died" is an awfully depressing message to peddle to a lot of people up to their eyeballs in nachos and beer. Just an enormous miscalculation.

GoDaddy: OK, in the past the company has been outrageous, but in hindsight, that's better than being completely boring.

Nissan: Yes, we should have gotten all choked up by Harry Chapin's "Cats in the Cradle," but couldn't help thinking the ad was as long as the actual song.

Dodge: The idea of featuring people 100 years old in an ad seemed great, right up until you realized it was a pitch for a 100-year-old car brand. As virtually every other car ad on Sunday made clear, auto technology is about the future, not the past.

Lexus: A perfect example of all style, no substance. In fact, 20 minutes later couldn't remember what it was about.

Squarespace: It's very nice that the company had enough money to hire Jeff Bridges and buy Super Bowl time. Now go away.

Jublia/Loctite: Toenail fungus isn't cute, even if you put a football helmet on it; ditto for setting glue to music. Seriously, guys, stick to advertising at 3 a.m. on cable news, where you belong.

THE MOVIES

Movies often have a hard time standing out during the Super Bowl, since the creative is invariably just a glorified cut-down of a theatrical trailer. Those limitations, however, haven't stopped action films in particular from capitalizing on this once-a-year opportunity to reach slightly drunken men in such enormous numbers.

In descending order on the "Yeah, that probably made me want to see it more" scale:

Jurassic World: Dinosaurs and Chris Pratt. What's not to like (assuming you can ignore all the other lousy "Jurassic Park" sequels)?

Fifty Shades of Grey: A lot of men are likely going to get dragged to this movie. The trailer almost felt calibrated, shrewdly, to whet their curiosity, playing up both the sex and its status as a cultural phenomenon.

Tomorrowland: Other than the fact George Clooney's in it, very hard to determine much about the plot or tone of this from the ad that ran. Plus, who would ever go see a movie based on a theme-park attraction. (What? "Pirates of the" who?)

Terminator Genisys: Yes, it's an enormously durable franchise, but this still looks like one of the most-anticipated movies of 1995, featuring an AARP-eligible Terminator.

Minions/Ted 2/Furious 7: If you didn't know these sequels were coming out later this year, well, now you do. Although have to say, that last one does blow stuff up real good.

NBC

The host network always uses the game to push its midseason lineup, with the move of "The Blacklist" to Thursday nights representing its biggest gamble.

That said, NBC's best promotion was, naturally, devoted to the show that probably needs such help the least: "The Voice." Not only did the "Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome"-inspired spot actually make sense (which can be rare with these specifically produced efforts), but it looked like it cost a fortune.

As for "The Blacklist," the network's postgame telecast was the only real ad the show needed for its Thursday move, which is good, because the spots that ran during the game didn't do much to sell it to the uninitiated.

In terms of the new shows, NBC's "Odyssey" spot was too cryptic, while the network fared somewhat better with its teases for "Allegiance," "Heroes Reborn" and "A.D.," simply because the concepts aren't complicated. "The Slap" promo was also effective, although frankly, probably gave more away than it should.

Sister Comcast networks also squeezed into the act, with USA promoting "Dig," which looked big and theatrical; and E!'s plug for its first drama, "The Royals," which felt more like "Access Hollywood" outtakes than a TV show, even with Elizabeth Hurley strutting through it.

© 2015 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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US consumer spending slips in December as auto sales weaken

WASHINGTON — U.S. consumer spending slipped in December, as the pace of motor vehicle sales slowed and more Americans saved their money.

The Commerce Department said Monday that consumer spending fell 0.3 percent in December, compared to a 0.5 percent increase in November. Cheaper gasoline and fewer auto sales accounted for most of the decline.

Energy prices tumbled 5.2 percent in December for the sixth straight monthly decline. The falling oil and gas costs caused consumer spending — before adjusting for price changes — to record the largest monthly decrease since September 2009.

Personal income rose 0.3 percent in December, aided by the steady wave of hiring over the past year. But rather than spend those gains, consumers saved 4.9 percent of their disposable income, up from 4.3 percent in November.

Despite the decrease, several indicators show that Americans are growing more comfortable about the economy and are spending money again.

"Further big real income gains and soaring confidence point to serious strength in spending," said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics. "(W)e would not be surprised to see gains approaching 5 percent annualized in the spring."

Consumer spending rose at an annual clip of 4.3 percent during the final three months of 2014, the strongest pace since early 2006, the government reported Friday. That surge helped drive overall economic growth of 2.6 percent, as roughly 70 percent of gross domestic product stems from consumer activity.

Adjusting for inflation, consumer spending during all of 2014 increased 2.5 percent, the strongest gain since 2006, roughly a year before the Great Recession started.

The University of Michigan reported that its consumer sentiment index stood at 98.1 percent in January, the highest reading since 2004. Half of the consumers surveyed expect the current expansion to continue for the next five years.

Similarly, incomes are rising at a slightly better pace. The Labor Department's employment cost index, which measures pay and benefits, climbed 2.2 percent in 2014, up from 2 percent the previous year. Despite the improvement, the index remains below its historical increase of 3.5 percent.

Much of the ongoing momentum will depend on whether the economy continues to spawn jobs, and most believe that that will be the case.

Economists expect the U.S. to report Friday that employers added 230,000 jobs. If the forecast proves accurate, the economy will have gained at least 200,000 jobs in each of the past 12 months, the best streak since the 16 months of gains in excess of 200,000 between 1993 and 1994.

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Tom Brady cameos in 'Ted 2′ Super Bowl spot

"Ted 2" really took advantage of the situation in its Super Bowl XLIX spot.

Universal unveiled a new clip of the sequel to 2012's "Ted," showing Mark Wahlberg and the titular Seth MacFarlene-voiced teddy making an unwanted appearance in the home of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.

Unsurprisingly, there's penis jokes abound, and after Brady kicks the two out of his home, Wahlberg's character notes that the quarterback threw his pillow at them in a perfect spiral.

Amanda Seyfried will also star in the sequel, which MacFarlene is returning to write and direct in addition to his voice duties. "Ted 2" will hit theaters June 26.

© 2015 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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US stocks fall after weak consumer spending report

NEW YORK — U.S. stocks fell in the first hour of trading Monday after a weak consumer spending report. European markets were stable after France endorsed Greece's efforts to ease the terms of its financial rescue program.

KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average fell 82 points, or 0.5 percent, to 17,082 as of 10:22 a.m. Eastern time. The Standard & Poor's 500 shed 10 points, or 0.5 percent, to 1,985. The Nasdaq composite fell 45 points, or 1 percent, to 4,589.

DROP IN SHOPPING: U.S. consumer spending edged lower in December as vehicle sales slowed and more Americans chose to save rather than spend. The Commerce Department said spending fell 0.3 percent last month after rising 0.5 percent in November.

OIL: U.S. benchmark crude edged down 15 cents to $48.07 a barrel. The price jumped Friday on signs American oil production is slowing. U.S. companies are under pressure to curtail drilling as prices fall to a level that makes some production unprofitable. Prices have fallen nearly 60 percent since June as global supplies grew faster than demand.

EXXON BEATS: Exxon Mobil rose 95 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $88.42 after reporting fourth-quarter earnings that beat analysts' forecasts. The sharp drop in oil prices helped push earnings per share down 21 percent. Earnings would have dropped more if not for lower taxes, a favorable ruling in a dispute with Venezuela, and strength in the company's chemical business. The energy giant is the second-largest company in the S&P 500 index after Apple.

ENERGY BOOST: Energy companies rose 1 percent, the biggest gain among the 10 sectors in the S&P 500. Eight of the 10 sectors fell.

EUROPE: Germany's DAX edged up 0.1 percent, France's CAC-40 fell 0.3 percent and Britain's FTSE 100 lost 0.1 percent.

CHINESE MANUFACTURING: Two reports suggested manufacturing weakened in the world's second-largest economy in January. The China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said its purchasing managers' index fell to a 28-month low. A separate index by HSBC edged up but still indicated manufacturing was contracting.

Both reports blamed weak demand in China and abroad. Analysts said they expect Beijing to inject more credit into the country's economy or launch other stimulus measures.

ASIA'S DAY: The Shanghai Composite Index gave up 2.6 percent and Tokyo's Nikkei 225 was off 0.7 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.1 percent. Seoul's Kospi added 0.2 percent.

GREEK DEBT: European traders were focused on Greece's debt issues after the country's new finance minister won initial support from Paris for his effort to renegotiate the terms of the country's financial bailout. French Finance Minister Michel Sapin said Sunday that while his government wouldn't support canceling the debt, it was willing to consider a new time frame or terms. That, for now, is easing worries that Greece's new government might eventually leave the euro currency block.

CURRENCIES: The dollar fell to 117.20 yen from Friday's 117.43 yen. The euro strengthened to $1.1355 from $1.1285.

BONDS: U.S. government bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.67 percent.

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Super Bowl on social: Twitter tallies 28.4 million tweets during TV telecast

Super Bowl XLIX was the most-tweeted NFL championship game ever -- but even with the down-to-the-wire finish in the New England Patriots' defeat of the Seattle Seahawks, the contest didn't top the most-social match from the 2014 FIFA World Cup, according to Twitter.

On Feb. 1, users posted more than 28.4 million tweets over the course of #SB49 during NBC's coverage of the game and the Katy Perry-headlined halftime show (6:20 to 10:10 p.m. ET, from kickoff through 30 minutes after time ran out). That's up 14% from 24.9 million tweets for Super Bowl XLVIII and 24.1 million tweets in 2013.

The highest volume on Twitter for Sunday's Super Bowl occurred when Patriots rookie Malcolm Butler intercepted a pass by Seahawks QB Russell Wilson with 20 seconds left in the game -- which yielded 395,000 tweets per minute. The NFL tweeted a replay of the game-sealing pick:

The NFL's replays of highlights, in partnership with NBC, were through the Twitter Amplify video-advertising program, with sponsors that included Draft Kings, Ford, Pizza Hut and Disney (which was promoting "Tomorrowland" in the big game).

Still, American football could not unseat soccer as the most-tweeted sporting event ever. That title is held by Germany's 7-1 humiliation of host country Brazil in last summer's World Cup semifinals, which notched 35.6 million tweets posted worldwide during the match.

For the Super Bowl, the other major moments came at the final whistle (379,000 tweets per minute) and the end of Katy Perry's halftime performance (284,000 tweets per minute).

On Sunday night, the most-mentioned Patriots players players on Twitter during the live telecast were Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman, while the most-tweeted Seahawks players were Marshawn Lynch, Wilson and Chris Matthews.

© 2015 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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Netflix formally announces plans to raise $1 billion more debt to fund content

Netflix officially announced Monday that it intends to offer $1 billion in long-term debt, which the company plans to use for content acquisitions and other general purposes.

In reporting earnings last month, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and CFO David Wells told investors they were planning to raise at least a billion dollars of debt, given the company's step-up in content investment as well as the "current favorable interest-rate environment."

"Over the next few years we expect to continue financing our original content expansion with long-term debt," Hastings and Wells wrote in the letter. "As long as the maturities are spread out, and the interest cost is built into our content budgets, we think long-term debt is the best way for Netflix to finance the production of content."

The execs said in the first quarter of 2015, it will increase the amount of cash used for original projects launching in the period. Upcoming series include the third season of "House of Cards," slated to launch Feb. 27. All told, the company this year expects to launch 320 hours of new and returning original series, as well as films, documentaries and stand-up comedy specials, which is three times the amount of original programming Netflix released in 2014, they said.

Netflix noted that the interest rate, maturity date and other terms of the debt will be determined via negotiations with the initial purchasers.

As of the end of 2014, Netflix reported $900 million in long-term debt on its balance sheet. The company issued $400 million in 10-year notes last year, after raising $500 million in 2013.

© 2015 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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Record overnight ratings for game

NEW YORK — The Super Bowl scored its highest-ever overnight ratings for New England's thrilling win over Seattle, an early indication the game may be on the way to another viewership record.

The Nielsen company said Monday the game had a 49.7 rating in the nation's largest media markets, up 4 percent over last year's game. That means 49.7 percent of the homes in those 56 markets were watching the game. The nation as a whole has 116 million homes with television.

Nielsen had no immediate estimate of the number of viewers. Last year's contest between Seattle and Denver was seen by 111.5 million, the annual game setting a record for the most-watched TV event in U.S. history for the fourth time in five years.

The game had a 72 share, meaning 72 percent of televisions on Sunday night were tuned to NBC's broadcast of the game in which the Patriots scored a 28-24 victory over the Seahawks.

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Super Bowl ratings hit all-time high with Patriots' win on NBC

Nielsen will issue total-viewer estimates later today, but early indications are that Sunday's Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks has broken U.S. television records.

In the metered-market overnights, the Patriots' 28-24 victory earned a 49.7 household rating/72 share, eclipsing the previous high of 48.1/71 set two years ago when Baltimore defeated San Francisco on CBS; that game ended up averaging 108.41 million viewers in the nationals.

NBC's Super Bowl XLIX overnight topped a 50 rating in each half hour from 8 p.m. ET to the game's conclusion, peaking with a 52.9/73 from 10 to 10:15 p.m. ET.

The Super Bowl has set ratings highs in six of the last seven years, peaking with 112.19 million for the Seahawks' demolition of the Denver Broncos a year ago on Fox. Last year's game did a 47.6/70 in the overnights.

Sunday's game was a nail-biter, with the Patriots rallying from a 10-point, fourth-quarter deficit to go ahead in the closing minutes. The Seahawks had a chance to win but were intercepted at the New England goal line with 20 seconds to play.

Not only was it a great matchup, pitting the best team from each conference during the regular season, but Sunday's game also benefited from lead-up conversation surrounding allegations that the Patriots purposely deflated the footballs they used in their 45-7 rout of the Indianapolis Colts last month. The NFL is conducting an investigation, but had not made any ruling prior to the Super Bowl.

Following NBC's post-game coverage, a special episode of second-year drama "The Blacklist" averaged series-best 13.5 household rating/24 share in Nielsen's metered-market overnights. This is up 9% from last year's "New Girl" on Fox (12.4/21) and 13% higher than "Elementary" on CBS in 2013 (12.0/21), the latter of which was hampered by a very late start time of 11:11 p.m. ET.

In social media, more than 65 million people joined the conversation on Facebook worldwide during Super Bowl XLIV, with over 265 million interactions (posts, comments and likes). Last year's game saw 50 million unique people talking about the event.

The states with the highest level of conversation on Facebook about the Super Bowl were New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Maine, Massachusetts and Washington.

© 2015 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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US construction spending rose 0.4 percent in December

WASHINGTON — U.S. construction spending accelerated in December as building activity increased for new houses and government-backed highways.

The Commerce Department said Monday that construction spending rose 0.4 percent in December. Total construction spending in 2014 increased 5.6 percent to $961 billion, with the gains slightly below the pace of 5.7 percent in 2013.

Spending on single-family houses rose 1.2 percent in December from the prior month. Highway and street construction grew by 2.1 percent and factory-building by 1.9 percent. Construction of schools and commercial centers fell in December.

The gains were strong enough that Michael Gapen, an analyst at the bank Barclays, said that the economy likely expanded at an annual pace of 2.8 percent in the final three months of last year, compared to the 2.6 percent estimate reported by the government last week.

Over the course of 2014, spending on offices, power plants, factories and lodgings climbed significantly, potentially signaling broader economic growth in 2015 that could further boost residential construction.

Sales of new home sales climbed 11.6 percent in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 481,000, the Commerce Department said in a recent report. That represents a marked improvement from the total sales of 435,000 for all of 2014.

Solid job growth should spillover into construction. Employers added nearly 3 million jobs in 2014, the most since 1999. Economists surveyed by FactSet ahead of Friday's jobs report say that employers likely added 230,000 jobs in January.

The strong hiring should lead to additional demand for hotels and office buildings, according to the American Institute of Architects' forecast for 2015. The trade group expects that construction spending will increase 7.7 percent this year on non-residential buildings, led primarily by new offices, hotels, factories and retail development projects.

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