U.S. stock futures advanced

June 1 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock futures advanced, indicating the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index may extend gains from the first-three month winning stretch since its 2007 record, as growth in Chinese manufacturing boosted confidence the global economy is recovering.

Alcoa Inc., the largest U.S. aluminum producer, Freeport- McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. and Barrick Gold Corp. climbed with higher metals prices. Exxon Mobil Corp., the biggest U.S. oil company, and ConocoPhillips gained as crude rallied and China increased prices of gasoline and diesel by as much as 8 percent.

Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index expiring in June added 1.6 percent to 932.5 at 9 a.m. in New York, even after General Motors Corp. filed for bankruptcy. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 1.3 percent to 8,598. Nasdaq-100 Index futures climbed 1.1 percent to 1,451.

“Investors are reacting to increased optimism surrounding economic numbers,” said Peter Jankovskis, who helps manage $1.2 billion at OakBrook Investments in Lisle, Illinois. “The surge in commodities prices is an indication that people see an economic recovery taking place.”

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Travel Deals website

New York Times has this interesting article about how companies are mining through travel data to find travel deal. Sifting Data to Uncover Travel Deals sites the following website. Farecast.com airfarewatchdog.com ( to find deals that include companies that don't share data) Flightstats.com (if you wanted to see which flightsare most prone to problems/delays) milemaven.com (best mileage programs) pointmaven.com (earn the most hotel points) update 4/22 read more about at consumerist . Cheaptickets.com sidestep.com

Text-to-speech application on the web

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NYC new Congestion Pricing or Fees or Tax depending on which side of the fence you are on <<< Global Warming

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Space in the city

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