Style Outperformer:
Small-cap Growth (-.94%)
Sector Outperformers:
Oil Tankers (+4.0%), Coal (+1.50%) and Steel (+.23%)
Stocks Rising on Unusual Volume:
GDP, BUD, SA, GOLD, UDRL, CHK, TAP, TSU, OZRK, VRSN, WYNN, CENX, MNTA, XNPT, BABY, GEOI, OSIR, CRZO, RGLD, CRDN, SPWR, MMSI, PAAS, NDAQ, CEDC, NNDS, HPC, DYS and MDS
Stocks With Unusual Call Option Activity:
1) JNJ 2) WMI 3) FRE 4) GFI 5) BMY
Late-Night Headlines
Bloomberg:
- Short interest on the NYSE surged 2.67% over the last two weeks of June to another new record of 18,125,000,000 shares. Short interest of the Nasdaq rose .29% over the last two weeks of June to another new record of 10,450,000,000 shares.
- New NYSE short-selling targets. Here are the 25 NYSE stocks with the largest percentage increase in short interest relative to their floats over the last two weeks of June:
- New Nasdaq short-selling targets. Here are the 25 Nasdaq stocks with the largest percentage increase in short interest relative to their floats over the last two weeks of June:
- The risk of intervention in the foreign exchange markets by central banks in the
- Yarn makers grew more pessimistic in the second quarter as the global pace of investment in mills that spin cotton slowed and rising costs squeezed profit, Cotlook Ltd. said. Of the 65 mills surveyed in China, the largest consumer of cotton, over two-thirds had idled capacity in the second quarter.
- Crude oil traded near $142 a barrel after rising more than $5 in the last hour of
- Corn declined for a fifth day on favorable crop weather in the U.S. Midwest and speculation that higher grain prices will reduce demand to feed livestock and produce biofuel. Soybeans also fell, reversing an early gain.
- Apple Inc.'s(AAPL) new iPhone went on sale today with crowds lining up outside stores in Tokyo and Auckland, New Zealand, as Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs takes aim at Research In Motion Ltd.'s(RIMM) BlackBerry.
- The risk to own Asian government bonds is the highest since at least 2003, when the region was rocked by slumping stock markets and the SARS epidemic, as record oil prices spur inflation and slow economic growth. The cost of protecting sovereign debt against default jumped this week to the highest since April 2003 for both Malaysian and South Korean investment-grade bonds, according to credit-default swap prices compiled by Bloomberg. The cost for Thai debt is at the highest level since October 2002 and
- Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.(LEH), the securities firm that's lost 75 percent of its market value this year, whittled down its hardest-to-value assets by 2.7 percent in the second quarter.
- Fannie Mae(FNM) and Freddie Mac(FRE), the largest buyers of U.S. home loans, are too big for the government to let them fail, leading Republican and Democratic lawmakers said.
- Presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain raised $22 million last month and entered July with $26.7 million in the bank, campaign manager Rick Davis said today. It was the biggest fundraising month of his campaign.
- Manhattan apartment rents fell in the first half, led by declines of as much as 16 percent for three- bedroom units in new buildings with doormen, as Wall Street job cuts and rising fuel and food prices deterred renters from moving.
- Intel Corp.(INTC) Chief Executive Officer Paul Otellini said the chipmaker isn't suffering from a slowing U.S. economy and demand overseas remains steady. ``Seventy-five percent of our sales are not in the U.S. and global business seems very strong still,'' Otellini said in an interview at Allen & Co.'s media conference in Sun Valley, Idaho. ``There may be some patterns in the U.S. that may be concerning to some people, but we haven't seen them at this point.''
- Wynn Resorts Ltd.(WYNN), founded by billionaire Stephen Wynn, surged 15 percent in late U.S. trading after the casino company said second-quarter profit rose more than some analysts estimated and it would buy back as much as $500 million more in stock.
- Deckers Outdoor Corp.(DECK): The maker of Ugg boots and Teva sandals said it agreed to open retail stores for its Ugg brand in China through a venture with Stella International Holdings.
Wall Street Journal:
- Microsoft Corp.(MSFT), the world’s largest software maker, will cut the price of a model of its Xbox 360 games console to spur sales. The cost of the Xbox 360 Pro will drop to $299 from $349 starting as early as this weekend.
MarketWatch.com:
- Grid spending money up for grabs. As utilities boost electrical supply to feed population growth as well as today's crop of power-hungry air conditioners and flat screen TVs and computer monitors, the sector is expected to boost grid infrastructure spending by $17 billion from 2007-2010, according to the Edison Institute.
- Power firms grasp new tech for aging grid.
NY Times:
- US Considers Takeover of Two Mortgage Giants.
- For Short Sellers, It Doesn’t Get Much Better. As shareholders of Fannie Mae(FNM) and Freddie Mac(FRE) watched their investments plunge in value Thursday, short sellers, who bet against stocks, could count their winnings. In a climate where members of Congress rail against short sellers, and chief executives like James Dimon of JPMorgan Chase say that those who start and pass on rumors should go to jail, it is not surprising that hedge fund executives are choosing to remain silent.
CNNMoney.com:
- Warren Buffett gets busy. For the second time in the past few months, the Oracle of Omaha’s Berkshire Hathaway is helping to finance a big deal. That’s an encouraging sign.
Financial Times:
- Steep falls in eurozone industrial production on Thursday highlighted the economic slowdown under way across the 15-country region, raising the risk of technical recessions in at least some member countries.
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- Overseas funds investing in
Late Buy/Sell Recommendations
Citigroup:
- Upgraded (CMC) and (STLD) to Buy.
Deutsche Bank:
- Rated (GOOG) Buy, target $635.
Caris:
- Rated (FSLR) Buy, target $350.
Night Trading
Asian Indices are -.50% to +.25% on average.
S&P 500 futures -.21%.
NASDAQ 100 futures -.08%.
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Today in IBD
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Daily Stock Events
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Company/EPS Estimate
- (FAST)/.50
- (GE)/.54
- (HITK)/.01
- (
Upcoming Splits
- (FLR) 2-for-1
Economic Releases
8:30 am EST
- The Trade Deficit for May is estimated at -$62.5 billion versus -$60.9 billion in April.
- The Import Price Index for May is estimated to rise 2.0% versus a 2.3% gain in April.
10:00 am EST
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2:00 pm EST
- The Monthly Budget Surplus for June is estimated at $30.0 billion versus $27.5 billion in May.
Other Potential Market Movers
- The (MRVL) shareholders meeting, (RMA) shareholders meeting and (PEFF) shareholders meeting could also impact trading today.
Bloomberg:
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- Man Group Plc, the world's largest publicly traded hedge fund manager, said assets under management rose 6.6 percent to a record in the past three months as clients added money and investments gained.
- Dow Chemical Co.(DOW), under pressure from record oil prices, agreed to buy Rohm & Haas Co.(ROH) for about $18.8 billion to increase sales of more lucrative electronics materials and adhesives in its biggest acquisition ever.
- U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said he's been assured by the regulator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that the two government-chartered mortgage companies have enough capital.
- General Motors Corp.(GM), the biggest U.S. automaker, has ``no thoughts whatsoever'' of bankruptcy, Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner said.
- Toyota Motor Corp. will build its Prius gasoline-electric car in the U.S., responding to a weakened dollar by producing the world's best-selling hybrid where there's most demand.
- Crude oil rose more than $5 a barrel after Iran test-fired more missiles in the Persian Gulf and a Nigerian militant group said it will end a cease-fire this week.
Wall Street Journal:
- Merck & Co.(MRK), Eli Lilly & Co.(LLY) and Pfizer Inc.(PFE) are teaming up to create new drug-discovery methods, which the companies say could save them large sums by reducing the failure rate of clinical trials.
- A Bipartisan Fix for the Oil Crisis.
NY Times:
- Spy Cases Raise Concern on China’s Intentions.
- Apple(AAPL) Moves to Dominate Internet Mobile Devices.