Bull Radar

Style Outperformer:
Large-cap Value (-3.13%)

Sector Outperformers:
HMOs (-1.60%), Medical Equipment (-1.61%) and Drugs (-1.80%)

Stocks Rising on Unusual Volume:
PHI, AMAG, ENSG, CPSI, MTSC, CASY, ASEI, OPY, TKG, HEW and UTI

Stocks With Unusual Call Option Activity:
1) LVLT 2) KG 3) SLE 4) JWN 5) XL

Links of Interest

Market Snapshot Commentary
Market Performance Summary
Style Performance
Sector Performance
WSJ Data Center
Top 20 Biz Stories
IBD Breaking News
Movers & Shakers
Upgrades/Downgrades
In Play
Exchange Volume vs. Average
NYSE Unusual Volume
NASDAQ Unusual Volume
Hot Spots
Option Dragon
NASDAQ 100 Heatmap
DJIA Quick Charts
Chart Toppers
Real-Time Intraday Quote/Chart
Dow Jones Hedge Fund Indexes

Friday Watch

Late-Night Headlines
Bloomberg:
- The cost of protecting investors in corporate and government bonds in Asia-Pacific region against default declined after U.S. stocks rallied the most in two weeks. The Markit iTraxx Japan index fell 12.5 basis points to 247.5 at 9:07 a.m. in Tokyo, according to prices from Credit Suisse Group AG. The Markit iTraxx Australia index was quoted 20 basis points lower at 255 as of 12:02 p.m. in Sydney, Citigroup Inc. data show. The Asia index of 50 investment-grade borrowers outside Japan was 10 lower at 365 basis points at 9:00 a.m. in Hong Kong, while the region's high-yield benchmark fell 50 basis points to 1,200, Barclays Capital prices show.

- Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd., Japan's most profitable shipping line, may mothball some of its largest vessels for the first time in over two decades as charter rates have fallen 98 percent over the last five months. The world's largest merchant fleet operator may also scrap seven of its capesize ships, used for transporting iron-ore and coal, from a fleet of about 100, Masafumi Yasuoka, senior executive officer at the shipping line, said in an interview in Tokyo yesterday.

- The price of palm oil may average 32% lower next year, CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets said.

- Qatar Investment Authority, the country's $60 billion sovereign wealth fund, plans to make more real estate acquisitions in 2009 as global prices decline and investors sell assets. ``We are looking for prime properties in major cities at distressed prices,'' said Navid Chamdia, the authority's head of real estate, in an interview at the Real Estate Investment World conference in Tokyo. ``We will continue to invest in attractive assets we are comfortable with.''

- U.S. corporate bonds issued in October are rallying in a sign that credit markets may be recovering after the worst month for investment-grade debt in more than 28 years. Prices on bonds sold by International Business Machines Corp., PepsiCo Inc., Diageo Plc and Verizon Communications Inc. climbed as much as 9.6 percent since they were issued in October, according to Trace, the bond-pricing service of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

- Senators Charles Schumer and Christopher Dodd offered conflicting opinions on the fate of the auto-rescue plan, with Schumer saying legislation would likely succeed with some Republican support and Dodd indicating the measure may not have the votes to pass.

- Exports from Asia's developing economies may decline 20 percent over the next year as a deepening global slowdown hurts demand for the region's products, Nomura International (HK) Ltd. said. Exports from Asia's emerging economies have held up until recently, as shipments to other destinations made up for weaker sales to the U.S. That's changing as the economic downturn becomes ``global and synchronized,'' and a slump in commodity prices erodes incomes in oil-producing nations, Subbaraman said.

Wall Street Journal:
- Congress is about to meet in a lame duck session to try and help the economy by spending some extra money. John Dingell, the Dem who chairs the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee, held a hearing today to share his ideas. Namely: Shell out some extra cash for Medicaid and NIH.

- The U.S. economy is in the midst of the worst part of the recession, but growth may return by the second half of next year, according to economists in the latest Wall Street Journal forecasting survey.

- Mild-mannered Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will go down as one of the most controversial central bank chiefs in American history, but economists have an early message for President-elect Barack Obama: Don't dump him. By a ratio of 3-to-1, the 54 private economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal said Mr. Bernanke should be reappointed by Mr. Obama when the Fed chairman's term comes up in January 2010.

- Bank of America(BAC) Lures Merrill Brokers With Bonuses.

- For the first time in recent memory, luxury-goods makers are cutting prices on designer apparel, shoes and handbags in the U.S. market.

- Vladimir Putin's Olympic dream has run into tough sledding. As this Soviet-era Black Sea resort town prepares to host the 2014 Winter Games, the global credit crisis is casting a chill on some of the biggest private investors in the Olympics infrastructure.

- The auto industry's quest to launch a new generation of electric cars may get a big boost from a sector with much to gain from getting advanced vehicles on the road: U.S. electric utilities.

CNBC.com:
- Hedge fund investor William Ackman has taken a 33.1 million share stake in American International Group as of Sept. 30, a regulatory filing filed by his investment vehicle Pershing Square Capital Management showed. The stake gives Ackman a 1.2 percent ownership in AIG(AIG), apart from the new 407,000 call options he also reported. Ackman also divested his 873,000 put option positions in bond insurer MBIA(MBI), a company he has sharply criticized in the past.

CNNMoney.com:
- Jittery investors began taking money out of stock-based mutual funds again this week, after a brief letup last week. Investors pulled $31.8 billion out of equity-based mutual funds during the week ended Nov. 12, compared with an inflow of $2.2 billion the prior week, according to TrimTabs Investment Research.

- Gasoline prices fell to their lowest level in 21 months Thursday, sinking below the $2.20-a-gallon mark, according to a survey for a motorist group. The average price of unleaded regular gas dropped 2.4 cents to $2.178 a gallon from $2.202 the day before, according to the survey from motorist group AAA. The last time gas was this low was Feb. 5, 2007, when the AAA reported the price at $2.177 a gallon. Gas has fallen 57 straight days in the AAA survey, since just after Hurricanes Gustav and Ike battered the Gulf Coast in September. Prices have dropped 47.06%, or $1.936, from their record high of $4.114 a gallon set July 17, according to AAA.

USA Today.com:

- It is last call for investors to ask for their money back from poorly performing hedge funds. Whether that is a bullish or bearish sign for battered stocks is anyone's guess. Wall Street hopes the passing of the Nov. 15 deadline — the last day for many investors to make a request to redeem hedge fund shares payable at year's end — could mark the beginning of the end of "forced selling" by funds to raise cash. If the selling recedes, it could help lift some of the downside pressure on stocks. Forced selling has been blamed for sharp stock price swings and plunging asset values in the financial crisis. Investors have redeemed an estimated $85 billion from hedge funds through the end of the third quarter, says Charles Gradante, co-founder of hedge fund adviser Hennessee Group.
- About 100 proposed coal-fired power plants in the USA may be required to limit their greenhouse gas emissions after the Environmental Protection Agency was blocked Thursday from issuing a permit for a proposed Utah plant without addressing the issue of global warming.

Reuters:

- Four top Citigroup Inc (C) executives, including Chief Executive Vikram Pandit, on Thursday bought 1.3 million of the bank's common shares, a person familiar with the matter said, as the stock's price fell to a 13-year low. Pandit bought 750,000 common shares and 100,000 preferred shares, while institutional clients chief John Havens bought 250,000 shares, the person said. Two other executives bought a total of 300,000 common shares, the person said.

- The chief executive of MBIA Inc (MBI) bought 100,000 of the bond insurer's shares, according to a regulatory filing on Thursday. The purchase raised CEO Jay Brown's ownership to 2.7 million shares, according to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

- A bid by global leaders to push forward plans this weekend to erect a firewall against future financial crises like the one now threatening the world economy will quickly run into tough political realities that will limit progress.

- Kohl's Corp (KSS) and Nordstrom Inc (JWN), two large U.S. retailers, reported sharply lower quarterly profits on Thursday and warned of worse-than-expected results for the rest of the year, just weeks before the critical holiday shopping season gets under way.

Financial Times:
- Emaar Properties, one of the world's largest property developers, is preparing to cut jobs to help it steer through the biggest crisis in its 11-year history amid a sharp fall on Dubai's stock markets and a cooling of the Gulf state's property sector. The company, which accounts for about 10 per cent of the Dubai stock market, on Thursday said it was reviewing its 5,000-strong workforce in light of the weakening Dubai property market, which is declining for the first time since foreigners were allowed to buy property in 2002.

BBC:

- Up to 2,000 extra British troops are likely to be sent to Afghanistan next year, the BBC has learned.

The Independent:

- The five best-paid hedge fund managers – who between them made $12.6bn last year, even as the financial world began to crumble around them – were hauled before the US Congress yesterday and assailed over their huge salaries, their tax perks and their contribution to the credit crisis that has engulfed the globe.

Shanghai Securities News:

- The impact of China’s $586 billion stimulus package will be felt in 2010 at the earliest, citing Fan Gang, a central bank adviser.

Late Buy/Sell Recommendations
Citigroup:
- Reiterated Buy on (FORM), target $28.

- Reiterated Buy on (URBN), target $26.

RBC Capital:

- Investors should buy the US dollar and sell the Swiss franc as the pair trades independently of equity markets and the Swiss National Bank has expressed concern about the strength of its currency. The dollar-franc is one of eight major currency pairs “that is not currently taking its cues from global equity markets, with short-term correlations close to zero,” wrote London-based Adam Cole, head of global currency strategy at RBC. “This is one of the few ways of playing our fundamentally US dollar-positive view, whilst at the same time avoiding exposure to short-term equity market volatility.”

Night Trading
Asian Indices are +.25% to +2.75% on average.
S&P 500 futures -1.34%.
NASDAQ 100 futures -.91%.

Morning Preview
US AM Market Call
NASDAQ 100 Pre-Market Indicator/Heat Map
Pre-market Commentary
Pre-market Stock Quote/Chart
Before the Bell CNBC Video(bottom right)
Global Commentary
WSJ Intl Markets Performance
Commodity Movers
Top 25 Stories
Top 20 Business Stories
Today in IBD
In Play
Bond Ticker
Economic Preview/Calendar
Daily Stock Events
Upgrades/Downgrades
Rasmussen Business/Economy Polling

Earnings of Note
Company/EPS Estimate
- (ANF)/.71

- (A)/.59

- (HEW)/.50

- (JCP)/.53

- (JOBS)/.11

Economic Releases
8:30 am EST

- The Import Price Index for October is estimated to fall 4.4% versus a 3.0% decline in September.

- Advance Retail Sales for October are estimated to fall 2.1% versus a 1.2% decline in September.

- Retail Sales Less Autos for October are estimated to fall 1.2% versus a .6% decline in September.

10:00 am EST

- Preliminary Univ. of Mich. Consumer Confidence for November is estimated to fall to 56.2 from 57.6 in October.

- Business Inventories for September are estimated to fall .1% versus a .3% rise in August.

Upcoming Splits
- None of note

Other Potential Market Movers
- The weekly EIA natural gas inventory data report and CSFB Healthcare Conference could also impact trading today.

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly higher, boosted by commodity and technology stocks in the region. I expect US equities to open mostly lower and to rally into the afternoon, finishing modestly higher. The Portfolio is 100% net long heading into the day.

Stocks Finish at Session Highs on Heavy Volume, Boosted by Commodity, Gaming, REIT, Airline, Financial, Construction and Technology Shares

Evening Review
Market Summary
Top 20 Biz Stories
Today’s Movers
Market Performance Summary
WSJ Data Center
Sector Performance
ETF Performance
Style Performance
Commodity Movers
Market Wrap CNBC Video(bottom right)
S&P 500 Gallery View
Timely Economic Charts
GuruFocus.com
PM Market Call
After-hours Commentary
After-hours Movers
After-hours Real-Time Stock Bid/Ask
After-hours Stock Quote
After-hours Stock Chart
In Play

Stocks Reversing Sharply Higher on Heavy Volume into Final Hour on Short-Covering, Bargain Hunting, Less Forced Selling

BOTTOM LINE: The Portfolio is higher into the final hour on gains in my Biotech longs, Computer longs and Internet longs. I covered all of my (IWM)/(QQQQ) hedges and some of my (EEM) short today, thus leaving the Portfolio 100% net long. The tone of the market is bullish as the advance/decline line is higher, almost every sector is gaining and volume is heavy. Investor anxiety is elevated. Today’s overall market action is bullish. The VIX is falling 4.95% and is very elevated at 63.17. The ISE Sentiment Index is low at 105.0 and the total put/call is high at 1.13. Finally, the NYSE Arms has been running around average most of the day, hitting 1.43 at its intraday peak, and is currently .52. The Euro Financial Sector Credit Default Swap Index is falling 2.31% today to 107.67 basis points. This index is up from a low of 52.66 on May 5^th, but down from 157.81 on Sept. 16^th. The North American Investment Grade Credit Default Swap Index is down 1.2% to 199.87 basis points. The TED spread is falling 1.73% to 196 basis points. The TED spread is now down 268 basis points in just over four weeks. The 2-year swap spread is rising 1.7% to 112.25 basis points. The Libor-OIS spread is falling 1.5% to 162 basis points. The 10-year TIPS spread, a good gauge of inflation expectations, is down 5 basis points to .84%, which is down 178 basis points in just over four months and at the lowest level since January 1999. It appears as though we had a successful retest of the lows, with volume surging on the sharp reversal higher. The (XLF) is 4.5% higher on heavy volume, as well. I expect this market rally to have meaningful legs. With all the bad news today, market gains are even more significant. As well, the US dollar also looks poised for some profit-taking over the coming weeks which could help many stocks that are negatively impacted by its recent sharp rise. Nikkei futures indicate an +340 open in Japan and DAX futures indicate an +73 open in Germany tomorrow. I expect US stocks to trade modestly higher into the close from current levels on short-covering, bargain-hunting, less financial sector pessimism, less forced selling and seasonal strength.

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
- President George W. Bush today urged leaders of the world's biggest economies not to abandon free- market capitalism as they seek an escape from the financial crisis, calling it the ``best system'' for delivering growth. In a speech at the Manhattan Institute in New York before weekend talks among leaders from the Group of 20 nations, Bush said policy makers should resist the urge to meddle too much in markets as they seek to reverse the financial and economic turmoil now engulfing the world. ``History has shown that the greater threat to economic prosperity is not too little government involvement in the market, but too much,'' Bush said. ``Our aim should not be more government, it should be smarter government.''

- European Central Bank council member Ewald Nowotny said, “Part of the business model of hedge funds is that they are unregulated. They perhaps have to change their business model. It has perhaps been too costly.” He also said that hedge fund regulation may be discussed at the G-20 meeting in Washington.

- Fortress Investment Group LLC's(FIG) hedge-fund clients have asked to pull more than $4.5 billion, or a quarter of their money, over the next few months as the company reported its first quarterly loss since going public. The redemption requests poured in as Fortress's Drawbridge Global Macro funds lost 13.5 percent this year through Sept. 30 and its Special Opportunities funds declined as much as 7.2 percent, the New York-based company said today in a statement.

- Derivatives indicating the future cost of shipping oil plunged 17% on signs that slower economic growth is sapping demand for the fuel. January-to-March forward freight agreements, or FFAs, fell to $31,000 a day from $37,150 a day yesterday, Justin King, head of tanker derivatives at Tradition Financial Services, said in an e-mail at 4:15 pm London time. The contracts are bets on the quarter’s average daily rental cost for supertankers shipping Saudi Arabian crude oil to Japan, a global benchmark. The IEA today lowered its forecast for demand by the most in 12 years today.

- Oil traders made their biggest bet yet that OPEC will fail to prevent crude prices from plunging below $30 a barrel. Trades in crude-oil options contracts that would allow the holder to sell oil for February delivery at $30 a barrel reached 1,406 on the New York Mercantile Exchange today, making the contract day’s second-most active, exchange data show.

- George Soros and Philip Falcone, in a rare appearance by hedge-fund managers before Congress, defended their industry's practices and profits while splitting over whether the U.S. should impose stricter regulations.

- General Electric Co.(GE), buffeted by the global credit crunch, repeated plans to keep its dividend unchanged next year after shares dropped below $15 for the first time since 1996.

Wall Street Journal:

- Hedge Funds on the Hill: Live-Blogging the Hearings.

- New York state officials have begun examining middlemen in the market for credit-default swaps, as they comb for potential evidence of manipulation in the largely unregulated world of CDS trading. The latest focus of regulators' inquiry are firms known as interdealer brokers, or the generally small, independent shops that serve as matchmakers for Wall Street firms trading in credit-default swaps, bonds and other instruments. Interdealer brokers, which typically promise to keep banks' positions secret from rivals, are at the nexus of the Wall Street information flow, with unique insight into the trading activities of their clients.

- Hedge fund Quadrangle Equity Investors is planning to wind down amid weak performance and investor redemptions, in a setback for Steven Rattner's private investment firm. The fund is operated by Quadrangle Group LLC, the New York-based firm run by Mr. Rattner, the former deputy chairman of Lazard. Quadrangle launched the hedge fund in 2006, managing about $500 million at its peak.

- The board of Citigroup Inc.(C) is growing increasingly dissatisfied with the financial giant's performance, and some directors are considering replacing Sir Win Bischoff as chairman, according to people familiar with the matter. One leading candidate is Richard Parsons, Time Warner Inc.'s chairman and a member of Citigroup's board. Mr. Parsons ran a New York thrift in the early 1990s and is one of the few Citigroup directors with experience in financial services. He also is part of President-elect Barack Obama's transition economic-advisory board.

- Brazil's massive Jupiter find contains a higher oil-to-gas ratio than originally expected, Galp Energia SGPS SA (GALP.LB) Chief Executive Manuel Ferreira de Oliveira said in a conference call.

FINAlternatives:

- Hedge funds’ monthly ‘Dear Investor’ letters are quickly becoming case studies in self-pity, self-flagellation and flourishes of apology. The latest missive circulating in cyberspace comes from Maverick Capital, and it’s a dandy. The Maverick Levered Fund finished the third quarter down 40.6% (down 34.5% year-to-date) followed by the Neutral Levered Fund’s 27.5% loss last quarter (down 3.3% YTD). The firm’s other hedge fund losses include Maverick Fund Class C 5 yr. (down 22.4% in the quarter, down 16.9% YTD) and Maverick Neutral (14.4% in the quarter, flat YTD).

Europa:

- The European Commission has proposed today a wide-ranging energy package which gives a new boost to energy security in Europe, supporting the 20-20-20 climate change proposals which should be agreed by December. The first priority identified in the second Strategic Review is to adopt and rapidly implement the measures to reach European Council energy policy targets for Europe aiming at a 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, a 20% share for renewables in final energy consumption and a 20% saving in future energy demand by 2020.

recast to "

Business Day:

- Citigroup Inc.(C) Chairman Win Bischoff doesn’t expect any more big banks to fail as regulators around the world step in to support lenders, citing Bischoff.