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Rescued cow, 'Molly B,' arrives at new Mont. home

STEVENSVILLE, Mont. – A cow that avoided slaughter five years ago by famously jumping a slaughterhouse gate and leading officials on a chase finally has a new home in Montana.

The cow is called the "Unsinkable Molly B" because her 2006 escape included a swim in the Missouri River. She was recently rescued from an overcrowded animal sanctuary and is now at the New Dawn Montana Farm Animal Sanctuary near Stevensville.

Sanctuary officials thought they had her several weeks ago, before learning a similarly marked bovine was actually a steer named "Big Mike."

The sanctuary's Sue Eakins tells the Ravalli Republic it was a relief to have Molly B delivered safely last week. She says she and her husband had been warned about Molly's demeanor, but Eakins says Molly is a "sweetie pie."

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Information from: Ravalli Republic,

Devils G Martin Brodeur back to skating again

NEWARK, N.J. – A little more than a week after spraining his right knee, New Jersey Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur has started skating again.

Devils coach Jacques Lemaire said Brodeur skated on his own Tuesday at the Prudential Center. The 38-year-old goaltender hopes to skate again Wednesday, if his knee feels OK.

"He was on the ice today for a little while and came off," Lemaire said, "so he should go back on tomorrow."

The Devils have not announced a timetable for Brodeur's return. He has missed three games since being injured in the first period of a 4-1 win over Montreal on Feb. 6.

Johan Hedberg has replaced him the past three games, giving up four goals in winning all three games. New Jersey has posted a 12-1-2 record in its last 15 games to give it a faint hope of making the playoffs for a 14th straight season after a dismal start to the year that eventually cost coach John MacLean his job.

Lemaire, who replaced MacLean, did not say how long Brodeur skated, but he noted he had no problems.

"He wanted to (skate)," Lemaire said, "because he felt better."

The Devils placed Brodeur on injured reserve Tuesday, retroactive to Feb. 6. The move clears the way for him to return whenever he is healthy. He was not in the locker room after practice.

The Devils, who have not played since beating San Jose, 2-1, on Friday, will play the Carolina Hurricanes and the New York Rangers in Newark on Wednesday and Friday, respectively. They will face Carolina on the road again on Saturday. Hedberg will probably start all three.

"It's what I do for a living," Hedberg said. "I'm told to play, I'll play."

Veteran forward Brian Rolston said that Brodeur will be back when he is ready.

"Whoever we practice with is our guy," Rolston said. "Heddy has been awesome for us, and we expect him to continue to be awesome for us. We feel very confident with him and when Marty comes back, Marty comes back."

Highlights: Bernanke testifies on economy to House panel

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The following are highlights from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's testimony on the economy to the House Budget Committee on Wednesday.

BERNANKE ON GSE REFORM:

"As you know, the Treasury is promising us a set of proposals very soon. It'll be interesting to see what they provide. There's various possibilities that we could do, including making them a government utility or privatizing them, which would be two alternatives. One suggestion which I have made in previous remarks is that if the government is involved in providing credit guarantees, they should do so only as a deep backstop -- that is, the first losses should be borne by the originators of the mortgages or by the securitizers. The government, if it does provide backstop insurance, should do so for an actuarially fair fee, premium, and that would essentially allow the government to provide backstop in situations like we had in the last few years where the housing market comes under enormous stress."

BERNANKE ON CYCLICAL VERSUS STRUCTURAL UNEMPLOYMENT:

"I don't have a precise number, but we have done a lot of work looking at this. And I would say the bulk of it is still cyclical. The risk is that if it goes on long enough, it will start becoming structural as people loose their skills and their connection to the labor force."

BERNANKE ON OVERALL U.S. INFLATION BEING LOW:

"There should be no doubt that we are unwaveringly committed to maintaining price stability....In terms of what we are looking at, first of all, overall inflation, including food and energy is still very low, about 1 percent. But looking forward, you ask about the yield curve. If you look, for example, at inflation break-evens which are a measure in the inflation-index bond market of what the market thinks inflation is going to be, the five-year break is about 2.1 percent, last time I looked. So there is not really any indication in our financial markets that in the United States there is an expectation of inflation. That being said, we look very seriously at output gaps, but also at commodity prices and all the other indicators that will help us assess when inflation is becoming a problem."

BERNANKE ON INFLATION IN EMERGING MARKETS:

"The inflation is taking part in emerging markets because that's where the growth is, that's where the demand is and that's where in some cases the economies are overheating. It's the responsibility of the emerging markets to set their monetary and exchange rate policies in a way that will keep their economies on a stable path."

"The increases in oil prices, for example, are entirely due -- according to the International Energy Agency -- to increases in demand coming from emerging markets, they're not coming from the United States. So the bulk of the increase in commodity prices is a global phenomenon. In the United States inflation made in the U.S. is very, very low. Of course that's a serious problem but monetary policy can't do anything about, say, bad weather in Russia or increases in demand for oil in Brazil and China. What we can do is try to get stable prices and growth here in the United States."

HOUSE BUDGET COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN PAUL RYAN ON "SOUND MONEY":

"We must not neglect the sound money part of the equation."

"My concern is that the costs of the Fed's current monetary policy -- the money creation and massive balance sheet expansion -- will come to outweigh the perceived short-term benefits."

"We are already witnessing a sharp rise in a variety of key global commodity and basic material prices, and we know that some producers and manufacturers here in the United States are starting to feel cost pressures as a result."

"For the sake of our economy in particular and the global recovery as a whole, it is vital that we focus on dollar stability if we are to prevent the kind of beggar-thy-neighbor currency conflicts that can destroy economic recoveries."

"There is nothing more insidious that a country can do to its citizens than debase its currency."

FROM BERNANKE'S TEXT

BERNANKE ON JOBS:

"Notable declines in the unemployment rate in December and January, together with improvement in indicators of job openings and firms' hiring plans, do provide some grounds for optimism on the employment front. Even so, with output growth likely to be moderate for a while and with employers reportedly still reluctant to add to their payrolls, it will be several years before the unemployment rate has returned to a more normal level. Until we see a sustained period of stronger job creation, we cannot consider the recovery to be truly established."

BERNANKE ON INFLATION:

"Overall inflation is still quite low and longer-term inflation expectations have remained stable. ... Core inflation was only 0.7 percent in 2010, compared with around 2-1/2 percent in 2007, the year before the recession began. Wage growth has slowed as well, with average hourly earnings increasing only 1.7 percent last year. These downward trends in wage and price inflation are not surprising, given the substantial slack in the economy."

BERNANKE ON BOND-BUYING PROGRAM:

"My colleagues and I have said that we will review the asset purchase program regularly in light of incoming information and will adjust it as needed to promote maximum employment and stable prices. In particular, we remain unwaveringly committed to price stability, and we are confident that we have the tools to be able to smoothly and effectively exit from the current highly accommodative policy stance at the appropriate time."

BERNANKE ON ACTING NOW TO REDUCE BUDGET DEFICIT:

"Acting now to develop a credible program to reduce future deficits would not only enhance economic growth and stability in the long run, but could also yield substantial near-term benefits in terms of lower long-term interest rates and increased consumer and business confidence. Plans recently put forward by the President's National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform and other prominent groups provide useful starting points for a much-needed national conversation. Although these proposals differ on many details, they demonstrate that realistic solutions to our fiscal problems do exist."

Dow looks to extend 7-day winning streak

NEW YORK – Stocks appear headed for a lower opening Wednesday, threatening to break a seven-day winning streak by the Dow Jones industrial average.

Stronger corporate earnings reports and economic data have helped push the Dow and the broader S&P 500 index to levels last seen in June 2008. Nearly three-quarters of the companies in the S&P 500 have reported profits that beat analysts' estimates.

Coca-Cola and Cisco, two of the 30 large companies that make up the Dow, report quarterly results Wednesday.

Before the market opened, Coca-Cola said net income more than tripled, helped by the acquisition of a bottler and selling more drinks in North America. Its adjusted earnings matched Wall Street estimates and revenue surpassed them by a small margin. Coca-Cola rose 1.3 percent in pre-market trading.

Cisco is scheduled to release results after the market closes.

No major economic reports are due Wednesday, but Ben Bernanke, the Federal Reserve's chairman, will make his first visit to the House of Representatives since Republicans took control last month. Bernanke will present his economic outlook to the House Budget Committee.

Bernanke is expected to face tough questions from Republican members of the House over the Fed's efforts to boost the economy through buying $600 billion in government debt.

American International Group Inc. said early Wednesday that it expects to take a charge of $4.1 billion to build up reserves against losses for its Chartis property and casualty insurance units. AIG dropped less than 1 percent in pre-market trading.

Ahead of the opening bell, Dow Jones industrial average futures are down 19 points, or 0.1 percent, at 12,177. S&P 500 futures are down 5 points, or 0.4 percent, at 1,316. Nasdaq 100 futures are down 7 points, or 0.3 percent, at 2,355.

After the market closed Tuesday, Walt Disney Co. reported earnings that beat expectations. The gains were largely thanks to higher advertising revenue at its ESPN and ABC television networks. Walt Disney is up 3.6 percent in pre-market trading.

Gainey, Wilson lead frosty Phoenix Open

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Slugger White only had to look at the temperature gauge in his car to know that a Monday finish was inevitable in the Phoenix Open.

"It's been in the 20s, 25 every morning in my car," said White, the PGA Tour's vice president of rules.

Because of frost and frozen greens, 7 hours, 24 minutes of anticipated playing time was lost Thursday and Friday — after the pro-am and all course activity were wiped out Wednesday at TPC Scottsdale.

"Someone made the comment, `When can you ever remember' — and I can't — `did we ever have a Monday finish with no precipitation?'" White said. "I mean, for us to get knocked out for frozen greens just doesn't happen. Frost, yeah. Frost goes away in an hour, hour and a half, and then we can just keep going, we can catch up."

The second round resumed Saturday in 46-degree conditions, the first time in three days the frost-delayed event has started on schedule.

On Friday, play was delayed until just after 11 a.m. — 94 minutes after the scheduled start that was already nearly two hours later than normal. Only half the field finished the first round Thursday after a four-hour morning delay. In announcing the Monday finish, PGA Tour officials said the cut will remain at the top 70 and ties.

"In a perfect world, probably finish Monday, maybe four or five holes, best-case scenario," White said. "So much depends on tomorrow morning and Sunday morning. ... It's unbelievable how frozen these greens get and they just don't thaw out."

It was fitting that a guy called "Tommy Two Gloves" had a share of the lead, not that Tommy Gainey thinks the extra glove really helps in cold conditions.

"I don't necessarily think it's an advantage when it's real cold, and I'll tell you why, because when the temperature started dropping, I mean, my hands, even though I had the gloves on, they were still freezing," Gainey said. "I didn't have much feel in my hands at that time. Wearing a glove or not, it's still freezing, and your hands are feeling kind of numb. And that's the way my hands were feeling, kind of numb."

Gainey and Mark Wilson reached 11 under before second-round play was suspended because of darkness. Wilson played 14 holes, and Gainey finished nine.

On the sunny day, the temperature was 42 when play started, reached 52 and was 48 when play was suspended a little after 6 p.m. If the players started a hole before the suspension, they had the option of finishing it.

Only six players completed the second round and 64 — the entire early wave from the first round — didn't get on the course Friday.

The temperature dropped into the mid 30s overnight, but the frost had cleared by 9:30 a.m. when play resumed. It is supposed to be warmer the next three days, with expected highs of 65 Saturday, 68 Sunday and 73 Monday.

Gainey, a two-time winner last year on the Nationwide Tour, birdied six of the final eight holes to take the first-round lead at 8-under 63, then had four birdies and a bogey on the first nine in the second round.

The 63 was his lowest score on the PGA Tour after missing the cut in his first three events this season. The round also was his first in the 60s this year.

"I've played absolutely terrible," Gainey said. "Right now, I'm starting to hit the ball like I'm supposed to. I'm starting to score. Putts are dropping ... Once the putts start falling, you can shoot an unbelievable low number. It just so happens that I'm making putts right now and I'm tied for the lead."

Wilson opened with a 65 and was 5 under for 14 holes in the second round. He won the Sony Open in Hawaii last month in a 36-hole Sunday finish for his third tour title.

"We're just going to ride this train as long as I can," he said.

Geoff Ogilvy was third at 9 under with two holes left. He's making his first start of the year after gouging his right index finger on a coral reef in Hawaii before the Tournament of Champions. He needed 12 stitches to repair the cut.

Phil Mickelson, on the leaderboard Thursday after a 67, didn't play Friday.

The weather has hurt attendance, with an estimated 74,723 fans attending Friday — down from 101,709 last year. Only 38,323 showed up Thursday, down from 69,475 in 2010.

Admission will be free Monday.