Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:

- U.S. mortgage rates dropped to the lowest in more than three decades as the government stepped up efforts to revive the housing market.

The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage tumbled for a ninth straight week, to 5.10 percent from 5.14 percent a week earlier, Freddie Mac said in a report today. That’s the lowest on record, according to data that goes back to 1971, the McLean, Virginia-based mortgage buyer said.

- John Paulson, who runs the $36 billion hedge-fund firm Paulson & Co., has some harsh words for his peers and their tendency this year to block or curb clients’ attempts to get their money back. “We think it’s a mistake for managers to use gates and other tools to limit investor access to their funds,” Paulson wrote in a 2009 outlook to investors. “While we recognize the difficulties of the current environment, we think it is a manager’s responsibility to raise liquidity to meet the redemption needs of their investors.”

- Yields on Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae mortgage bonds declined to record lows after the Federal Reserve announced plans to buy $500 billion of the securities faster than expected. Yields on Washington-based Fannie’s current-coupon 30-year fixed-rate mortgage bonds declined 1 basis point, or .01 percentage point, to 3.81 as of 10:45 am in NY, according to Bloomberg. The difference between the yields on the bonds and 10-year Treasuries narrowed 8 basis points to 164 basis points.

- The cost of borrowing in dollars in London for three months dropped for the third day, ending 2008 at the lowest level in more than four years as policy makers provide cash and lower interest rates. The London interbank offered rate, or Libor, for such loans fell one basis point to 143 basis points, the least since June 8, 2004, according to British Bankers’ Association data. “There’s no reason for the easing in rates not to continue,” said David Keeble, head of fixed-income strategy in London at Calyon, the investment-banking unit of Credit Agricole SA. “The banking sector is more stable and cash is coming into the system.” The Libor-OIS spread, a gauge favored by former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, narrowed one basis point to 125 basis points today. The TED spread, the difference between what the U.S. government and banks pay to borrow for three months, dropped two basis points to 133 basis points. That’s two basis points lower than on Sept. 12, the last working day before Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. collapsed.

- Treasuries fell, trimming their biggest annual rally since 1995, as stocks rose after fewer Americans filed initial claims for jobless benefits last week. The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association recommends that Treasuries trading end today at 2 p.m. New York time for New Year’s Eve and stay shut around the world tomorrow for New Year’s Day and in Japan on Jan. 2. The number of Americans filing first-time claims for jobless benefits dropped by 94,000 to 492,000 in the week ended Dec. 27, from 586,000 the previous week, the Labor Department said today. The median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of economists was for a decline to 575,000. U.S. yields indicate traders expect almost no inflation for the next decade. The difference between yields on 10-year Treasury Inflation Protected Securities, or TIPS, and conventional notes, which reflects the outlook among traders for consumer prices, was eight basis points.

- Crude oil rose after a government report showed a smaller-than-expected gain in U.S. fuel stockpiles. Futures are heading for a record annual drop.

- The US dollar’s share of foreign exchange reserves climbed in the third quarter as the currency rebounded and central banks sought the safety of the world’s leading reserve currency, data from the International Monetary Fund showed. The dollar accounted for 64.6 percent of the reserves held by governments and central banks at the end of September, up from 63 percent at the end of June, the Washington-based lender said today.

- GMAC LLC, the auto lender that’s getting a $6 billion federal bailout, completed a debt swap designed to bolster its capital after falling short of its $38 billion goal.

- Hamas is prepared to halt rocket attacks on Israel if the Israeli government lifts its blockade of the Gaza Strip, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. Hamas’ Damascus-based political leader Khalid Mashaal made the offer in a telephone call today with Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on its Web site.

- Bernard Madoff will file a list of his assets with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission today, his lawyer said, meeting the regulator’s deadline for disclosure of what money he has left.

- Tremont Group Holdings Inc., a hedge- fund firm owned by Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co., was sued for investing with financier Bernard Madoff who allegedly confessed to a $50 billion Ponzi scheme.

Wall Street Journal:

- Mortgage lenders who wake up Thursday with a New Year's hangover are likely to face another headache soon: The effort to give bankruptcy judges the power to rewrite mortgages is gaining steam. The banking industry hoped the mortgage "cram-down" measure died when Congress removed it from the $700 billion bailout bill that passed in October. But it has been gathering momentum in Democrat-controlled Washington, as evidence emerges that current voluntary foreclosure-prevention programs are falling short.

- The concert industry has so far bucked the recession, according to year-end data from trade magazine Pollstar, but promoters are bracing for a bumpy 2009. Box-office receipts from North American concerts through December were $4.2 billion, up 7.8% from 2007.

- Buyout Shops Swoop In for a Feast on the Cheap.

CNBC.com:
- These Airline Stocks Will Soar: Strategist.

- Demand for U.S. mortgage applications was unchanged during the Christmas holiday week, holding the highest levels in more than five years with loan rates near record lows, an industry group said on Wednesday.

ChannelWeb:

- Developers who have been reluctant to develop applications for Google's(GOOG) mobile Android platform because apps have only been available for free should be much happier in 2009. Google plans to start offering paid applications for sale as early as the first quarter, according to reports.

Seeking Alpha:
- Google(GOOG): A Gorilla Not to Be Missed.

The Detroit News:

- It is hard to imagine the head of any automaker -- foreign or domestic -- being optimistic about 2009. But Ford Motor Co. CEO Alan Mulally is downright ebullient. While he is all too aware of the dangers posed by the deepening recession, Mulally says Ford's decision to pass on the initial federal bailout of the U.S. auto industry has resonated with many Americans. The challenge now is getting them to come into the showroom and buy a Ford car or truck.

The Boston Globe:

- US Representative Barney Frank said yesterday he wants the government to spend $10 billion to jump-start the stalled development of affordable rental housing nationwide, including 31 projects in Massachusetts that can't move forward because of a lack of funds. Frank is proposing that the US Treasury buy $5 billion in low-income housing tax credits, a key source of funding for affordable housing, and provide states with another $5 billion they can spend on hundreds of stalled projects.

MarketingVOX:

- Worldwide iPhone WiFi ad requests grew 52% month-over-month to 359 million in November, giving the iPhone 6.3% share of global total requests and 9.9% share of requests in the US, where it is now the #1 device, according to research from AdMob.

VentureBeat:

- Local yogurt store tells blogger that Steve Jobs is “in great health.”

denverpost.com:

- Solar-panel incentives lure customers.

USA Today:

- As 2008 ends, U.S. troop deaths for the year in Iraq and Afghanistan are the lowest combined total since the Iraq war began in 2003.

Barron’s:

- While rumors of forthcoming Apple (AAPL) products for at Macworld next week have been relatively muted this month, Friedman, Billings, Ramsey analyst Craig Berger put out a note this morning stating that his “incremental checks into the Apple supply chain” have revealed the prospect that “a lower-cost version of the iPhone is coming … possibly in mid 2Q. Berger’s takeaway is that swings in production are lessening for Apple, and that that could lead to more stable order patterns for components, which could benefit Apple suppliers such as Intel (INTC), Marvel Technology (MRVL), LSI Logic (LSI), Nvidia (NVDA), while being “neutral” for suppliers of parts to primarily the iPhone, including Broadcom (BRCM), Marvel, Lattice Semiconductor (LLTC), National Semiconductor (NSM), Triquint (TQNT), and Skyworks Solutions (SWKS).
Berger prefers On Semiconductor (ONNN), Marvel, Microsemi (MSCC), Silicon Labs (SLAB), International Rectifier (IRF), Broadcom, Fairchild Semiconductor (FCS), and Atmel (ATML).

- ComScore (SCOR) last night published statistics from its measurement of U.S. visits to shopping Web sites from home and work, and found that Apple (AAPL) and Amazon.com (AMZN) had the biggest jump in unique visitors for the period November 1 to December 23. Apple’s traffic soared, up 19% to 35 million unique users, from 29.5 million in the year-earlier period. Amazon saw a surge of 7%, rising to 76.2 million unique users. Ebay (EBAY) topped the charts for unique users, with 85.4 million unique users, but that number was down 4% year-over-year. Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) and Target (TGT) were third and fourth, after eBay and Amazon, with Apple coming in number five in unique visitors.

ClimateBiz:

- Growing numbers of U.S. financial firms have started to play on the European Climate Exchange (ECX) as they seek to gain experience of how carbon markets operate ahead of the launch of a U.S. cap-and-trade scheme. Sara Stahl, business development director for the ECX, said the second half of the year had seen an influx of U.S. firms joining the exchange, helping to drive traded volumes of carbon credits up to record levels.

Interfax:

- China will issue third-generation phone licenses tonight, citing an official at a telecom equipment supplier.

Sankei:
- Toshiba Corp. plans to increase sales of liquid-crystal-display televisions by at least 43% in fiscal 2009. The company plans to increase its global market share to 10% from about 6% currently, by March 2011.

Bear Radar

Style Underperformer:
Large-cap Value (+1.01%)

Sector Underperformers:
Tobacco (-.77%), HMOs (-.74%) and Insurance (+.53%)

Stocks Falling on Unusual Volume:
DOW

Stocks With Unusual Put Option Activity:
1) AKAM 2) CDNS 3) ELN 4) KMP 5) MHK

Bull Radar

Style Outperformer:
Small-cap Growth (+2.17%)

Sector Outperformers:
Construction (+2.87%), Disk Drives (+2.35%) and I-Banks (+2.05%)

Stocks Rising on Unusual Volume:
WAG, EZCH, TWGP, NWPX, CERN, DRYS, SBNY, SNDA, VLCCF, ATAC, FLIR, NNDS, FSTR, INDB, IAT, RFG, PSD, FEU, DBV, ICB, OI, VIG, DSV, JKG, NY, IWW, STC and GNI

Stocks With Unusual Call Option Activity:
1) NTAP 2) FNF 3) IR 4) HOG 5) NFLX

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Wednesday Watch

Late-Night Headlines
Bloomberg:

- The Federal Reserve chose BlackRock Inc., Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Pacific Investment Management Co. and Wellington Management Co. to manage a $500 billion purchase of mortgage-backed securities it plans to complete by June. “They picked the crème de la creme of the money managers,” said Art Frank, head of mortgage-bond research at Deutsche Bank AG in New York. “By doing $500 billion by June, no question they’re doing their best to try to hold down mortgage rates.” The Fed’s program is intended to lower rates by reducing the supply of outstanding agency mortgage bonds, boosting their prices and thus lowering their yields. Lower yields in turn reduce the interest rates banks need to charge on new mortgages to ensure profitable sales of the securities. “It looks like they’re really going to ramp this up and it’s going to be done very quickly,” said Credit Suisse analyst Mahesh Swaminathan. Thirty-year mortgage rates could fall to an average 4.75 percent, he said, and “this is going to take it down sooner rather than later.” The average rate on a typical U.S. fixed-rate mortgage fell to 5.22 percent early yesterday, the lowest since 2005, from as high as 6.46 percent in October, according to Bankrate.com data.

- Developing nations plan to sell the most dollar-denominated bonds since 2005, reversing a shift into local debt, as commodities prices fall, foreign reserves diminish and emerging-market currencies weaken. International sales may rise 68 percent to $65 billion next year, according to estimates by ING Groep NV. Mexico raised $2 billion in a Dec. 18 offering. Peru’s Finance Minister Luis Valdivieso met with investors in New York, Boston, London and Madrid this month to drum up interest for the country’s first foreign sale in almost two years. Governments are growing more dependent on international markets after the six-month drop in raw materials reduced earnings from exports and caused budget deficits to widen. Dollar borrowing will increase foreign-exchange risk, a pattern that led countries across Latin America to default in the 1980s, said Ricardo Hausmann, director of the Center for International Development at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. “Countries will be forced to issue in dollars,” said Hausmann, a former Venezuelan planning minister who called developing nations’ reliance on foreign markets the “original sin” in a 1998 article in Foreign Policy magazine. “Debt structures will deteriorate again.”

- Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin is dropping a requirement that the provider of a proposed free Internet network block adult content from the service. Martin’s plan calls for the FCC to sell 25 megahertz of airwaves and then require the buyer to use a quarter of that spectrum to provide free wireless Internet access. Originally, he wanted the winning bidder to install filters that would block children under 18 from accessing pornography.

- The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rejected calls by banks to suspend an accounting rule blamed for exacerbating the financial crisis, saying the “fair- value” standard should instead be improved. “Fair-value accounting did not appear to play a meaningful role in the bank failures that occurred in 2008,” the regulator said in a statement today. The study, ordered by Congress, recommends changes in the accounting for so-called impaired securities and helping companies in determining the value of investments in inactive markets.

- Israeli ministers are weighing a French proposal for a 48-hour cease-fire even as tanks massed on the Gaza Strip border and the defense minister spoke of expanding the offensive. The army will continue military operations until a decision is made on the proposal, which was offered by French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, said an Israeli defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Wall Street Journal:

- A Washington lobbyist sued the New York Times for $27 million Tuesday over an article that she says gave the false impression she had an affair with Sen. John McCain in 1999. Vicki L. Iseman filed the defamation suit in U.S. District Court in Richmond. It also names as defendants the Times' executive editor, its Washington bureau chief and four reporters.

- The Lessons to Be Learned from the Madoff Scandal.

- Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich picked a former state attorney general Tuesday to fill the Senate seat that federal prosecutors allege the governor had tried to sell to the highest bidder. But opposition was so widespread to Mr. Blagojevich's appointment that it was unclear whether his appointee, Roland Burris -- a lobbyist and Blagojevich campaign donor -- would actually get the job. Senate Democrats said they wouldn't seat Mr. Burris, who in 1978 was the first African-American to win statewide office here. They told Mr. Blagojevich in a statement that anyone he selected would "serve under a shadow and be plagued by questions of impropriety."

- Pakistan's own investigation of terror attacks in Mumbai has begun to show substantive links between the 10 gunmen and an Islamic militant group that its powerful spy agency spent years supporting, say people with knowledge of the probe. At least one top leader of militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, or "Army of the Pure," captured in a raid earlier this month in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, has confessed the group's involvement in the attack as India and the U.S. have alleged, according to a senior Pakistani security official.

MarketWatch.com:
- The editor of the average gold-timing newsletter is more bullish today than he has been in nearly six months. That is not encouraging from a contrarian point of view.

- Most Americans who adjusted their driving habits in a big way when gasoline prices surged are sticking with their economizing ways, according to a Gallup poll released Tuesday. Even though prices at the pump are now about 45% lower than they were a year ago and significantly below $2 a gallon, 52% of Americans told Gallup that they have not gone back to their old gas-guzzling ways.

- Dow Chemical Co.(DOW) may try to renegotiate its pending acquisition of Rohm & Haas Co.(ROH) at a lower price after a recent financing setback that could force it to tap a $13 billion bridge loan to complete the deal, analysts said Tuesday.

CNBC.com:
- Jobs’, Cancer Rumors and a Whole Lot of ‘Here We Go Again’ It's a classic case of "no news is good news." Stop the rumors. And stop believing them. Until Apple says something different, or I get my hands on something tangible and trustworthy, I'm taking the company at its word. All the rest is noise and manipulation. And since the SEC doesn't feel the need to investigate any of this -- which is too bad; and since Apple is doing exactly what it should, Apple shareholders are wise to consider this ongoing madness as a risk factor in this stock. At some point, Apple's massively strong fundamentals will eclipse this garbage.

NY Times:

- With gas prices below $2 a gallon, it would seem an inopportune time for the Ford Motor Company(F) to introduce a hybrid sedan. But at 41 miles per gallon in city driving and 36 miles per gallon on the highway, Ford is confident that its Fusion Hybrid will make an impression in the marketplace.

- An army of ironworkers, masons, carpenters and laborers are swarming the campus of the University of Michigan these days, as the university undertakes a construction campaign budgeted at $2.5 billion, ranking it among the largest university building programs in the United States. Nine major buildings for science, medicine, health, art, business, sports, food service and student housing are in various stages of construction here. They encompass nearly three million square feet, at a cost of about $1.66 billion. Five others are in the design stage.

BusinessWeek:

- Closing the Door to Microsoft(MSFT) Vista. A number of companies are opting not to embrace Redmond’s latest operating system and , like GM, are waiting for Windows 7 instead.

CNNMoney.com:
- A daily survey of gas station credit-card swipes shows that gas prices are dropping to the lowest levels in nearly five years. Regular unleaded gas fell for the 11th consecutive day Tuesday to an average of $1.616 a gallon, down 3 tenths of a cent from the previous day's price of $1.619, according to motorist group AAA. That's the lowest price since gas hit $1.6027 a gallon in January 2004. Prices are down nearly $2.50, or more than 60%, since hitting a record average high of $4.114 a gallon this July.

Seeking Alpha:

- Google’s(GOOG) Momentum Continues. Sifting through data from Web site ranking firm ComScore (SCOR) about November’s search-engine results, released Monday night, Thomas Weisel analyst Christa Quarles concludes that “Google (GOOG) continues to gain audience market share from its competitors and dominates the rankings globally while both Yahoo! (YHOO) and Microsoft (MSFT) continue on a downward trend.

USA Today.com:

- 5 stock experts foresee 2009 rebound. A review of year-end '09 targets for the Standard & Poor's 500 index by five top market strategists found that nearly all expect double-digit percentage gains, despite another year of sharp swings. The most bullish projections call for a 24% gain from current levels. Stocks have snapped back sharply after past historic declines. After stocks bottomed out after an 89.2% drop in July 1932, for example, the Dow Jones industrials rallied 93.9% the next two months, Dow Jones Indexes says. Similarly, the S&P 500 rebounded 25.2% in 1938 after falling 38.6% in 1937, S&P says. After the 2000-02 bear market bottomed, the S&P 500 rebounded 26.4% in 2003.

TechCrunch:

- We’ve got this from three independent sources close to Apple(AAPL): expect a large screen iPod touch device to be released in the Fall of ‘09, with a 7 or 9 inch screen. Prototypes have been seen and handled by one of our sources, and Apple is talking to OEMs in Asia now about mass production. Combine the App Store, iTunes and a browser and you have one heck of a device.

Reuters:

- General Motors Corp(GM) and its GMAC funding affiliate launched programs on Tuesday to lure U.S. car and truck buyers back into showrooms, as the nation's largest automaker tries to revive its sagging fortunes. GMAC modified its credit criteria so that it could lend to a wider range of potential customers, two-and-a-half months after significantly curbing lending. Meanwhile, GM is offering zero-percent financing on several vehicles, and rates no higher than 5.9 percent on more than three dozen 2008 and 2009 models. The offer expires on January 5. Many eligible vehicles also carry cash discounts of $500 to $4,250.

Financial Times:
- Investors pulled a net $32bn from hedge funds last month, making 2008 the first year in their recorded history that the funds have had significant outflows and ending the industry’s 18 years of asset growth. Money has been taken out of funds following every strategy, even those – such as macro funds – which were showing returns, according to data from fund trackers Hedge Fund Research. Conrad Gann, chief operating officer of TrimTabs, said: “We estimate outflows in November were $32bn, and there is an additional pipeline of redemptions that have not been filled, there could be $80bn [of redemptions] in December. “There are $57bn of redemptions that we know are in, that are not reflected yet,” he said. Mr Gann said it was difficult to estimate outflows for coming months because hedge funds had different redemption cycles. In recent months funds have also tried to halt outflows by limiting or suspending investor withdrawals. This means that data on outflows, which reflect actual repayments to investors, understates the true picture.

TimesOnline:
- The US Treasury’s decision to throw a $6 billion (£4.1 billion) lifeline to GMAC, the finance unit of General Motors (GM), could be enough to halt the slump in the American car industry, it was suggested last night. The surprise bailout gave markets a boost, overriding the impact of a barrage of depressing economic data. GM and GMAC, which offers loans to the carmaker’s customers and dealers, immediately promised to ease lending conditions for vehicle buyers. Economists and industry experts said that the impact on sales was likely to be evident by the second quarter and may lift overall confidence in the economy.

AFP:

- The Iraqi government signed a military agreement with the UK and Australia, giving their troops a legal mandate to stay in the country until June 30, 2009, citing an Iraqi defense ministry spokesman.

Economic Times:

- Hewlett-Packard Co.(HPQ) may purchase a stake in Satyam Computer Services Ltd.(SAY).

Late Buy/Sell Recommendations
- None of note

Night Trading
Asian Indices are unch. to +1.50% on average.
S&P 500 futures +.25%.
NASDAQ 100 futures +.10%.

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Earnings of Note
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- None of note

Economic Releases

8:30 am EST

- Initial Jobless Claims for last week are estimated to fall to 575K versus 586K the prior week.

- Continuing Claims are estimated to rise to 4400K versus 4370K prior.

10:35 am EST

- Bloomberg consensus estimates call for a weekly crude oil inventory decline of -1,450,000 barrels versus a -3,101,000 barrel decline the prior week. Gasoline supplies are estimated to rise by +1,700,000 barrels versus a +3,336,000 barrel increase the prior week. Distillate inventories are estimated to rise by +1,500,000 barrels versus a +1,814,000 barrel increase the prior week. Finally, Refinery Utilization is estimated to rise +.5% versus a +.56% gain the prior week.

Upcoming Splits
- None of note

Other Potential Market Movers
- The weekly MBA mortgage applications report and NAPM-Milwaukee report 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 mixed and to rally into the afternoon, finishing higher. The Portfolio is 100% net long heading into the day.

Stocks Finish Higher Boosted by Defense, Hospital, Steel, Financial, Technology, REIT, HMO and Homebuilding Shares

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