Of course, monthly payment in full may not be realistic when repaying spring-break expenses.

FORBES: Picking a College Student's First Credit Card

If decent lodging is not built fast enough, slums may spring up instead.

ECONOMIST: Brazil's north-east

You may not know it from the weather, but for retailers spring isn't far off.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Strikingly, though, a deeper analysis of this so-called "shareholder spring" of investor uprisings shows it may not really exist.

BBC: The myth of a shareholder spring

Local elections may change the political balance next spring, but that is not the difficulty.

ECONOMIST: Will Serbs go back to Croatia?

While much focus has been placed on the possibility of Democrats winning back the Senate this fall (I wrote about it earlier this spring), on the other side, Republicans may not only retain their leadership of the House of Representatives, but may actually increase it.

CNN: What Kerry needs in Boston

So while the weather may not be cooperating just yet, perhaps adding these names to your portfolio can provide the spring you need to leap into the warmer weather.

FORBES: Put Some Spring In Your Portfolio With These 5 Names

Angels ace Jered Weaver, sidelined since April 8 because of a broken bone in his non-pitching arm, is scheduled to throw in an extended spring training game at the team's Arizona complex on Wednesday and may not need a minor league rehab assignment.

NPR: Trout Hits For Cycle, Drives In 5, Angels Rout M's

"May peace spring up for the people of Syria, deeply wounded and divided by a conflict that does not spare even the defenceless and reaps innocent victims, " he said.

BBC: Pope Benedict in Christmas plea for Syria solution