Style Underperformer:
- Small-Cap Growth (-.17%)
- 1) Airlines -1.34% 2) Gaming -1.0% 3) Steel -.64%
- HBHC, AGO, NKE, TBL, XXIA, FINL, QLIK, MOTR, CPY, BCH, LNN and CH
- 1) KRE 2) MNTA 3) NG 4) NKE 5) WAG
- 1) KKD 2) BEN 3) HERO 4) VMED 5) SU
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Bear Radar
Style Underperformer:
Bull Radar
Style Outperformer:
- Small-Cap Value (+.65%)
- 1) Banks +1.81% 2) Construction +1.02% 3) REITs +1.01%
- WTNY, BXS, WAG, JPM, BAC, PRE, SU, CVS, AIG, CLMT, JBL, BTM, AIMC, PRGS, NXPI, ARMH, PRFT, CSGP, ASMI, INCY, AMRS, ITMN, PCLN, UBSI, EBIX, IBKC, PNFP, SIVB, OXM, IAT, WBS, JEC, KRE, AM and RDY
- 1) ODP 2) ARMH 3) CCE 4) XLNX 5) RHT
- 1) BA 2) WAG 3) NKE 4) NOC 5) EME
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Wednesday Watch
Evening Headlines
Bloomberg:
- Banks Best Basel as Regulators Dilute or Delay Capital Rules. More than 500 representatives from 27 nations, including top regulators and central bankers, met dozens of times this year to hammer out 440 pages of new rules to govern the world’s banks. What’s not in the documents published by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, and the escape hatches that are, may have more impact on how financial institutions will operate following a global credit crisis that led to $1.8 trillion in bank losses and writedowns. The committee’s most significant achievement, members say, an agreement to increase the amount of capital banks need to hold, won’t go into full effect for eight years. Other measures that regulators had hoped would prevent future crises -- liquidity standards, a capital surcharge on the biggest lenders and a global resolution mechanism for failing firms -- were postponed, allowing banks to escape the toughest rules that would force them to change the way they do business.
- Japan's Export Growth Accelerated in November. Japan’s export growth accelerated for the first time in nine months as a rebound in global demand helped the nation’s economy withstand the yen’s advance to a 15- year high. Overseas shipments rose 9.1 percent in November from a year earlier, from October’s 7.8 percent gain, the Finance Ministry said in Tokyo today.
- Spain Power Debt Infects Enel With Sovereign Bond Market Woes: Euro Credit. Europe’s spreading sovereign debt crisis is making it tougher for Spain to pay electricity bills, and that’s infecting corporate bonds beyond its borders. Enel SpA, the Italian owner of Spanish power company Endesa SA, was put under review for a possible downgrade last week by Moody’s Investors Service because the Spanish government’s surging financing costs led it to freeze plans to repay 14.6 billion euros ($19.2 billion) owed to its utilities. Enel bonds were the worst performers this month among the 50 biggest non- financial issuers in Bank of America’s EMU Corporate Index. “The contagion between corporate and sovereign is already happening,” said Tom Sartain, a fund manager at London-based Schroders Plc, which oversees $245 billion of assets. “The instability of the sovereign is filtering through.”
- North Korea Deployed Missiles on West Coast Dec. 20, Chosun Ilbo Reports. North Korea deployed more missiles on its west coast on Dec. 20, when South Korea conducted artillery drills on an island in waters along the two nation’s western sea border, the Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported, citing an unidentified government official.
- Energy Put Trades to Double Average After Single Bet. Trading of bearish options on U.S. energy companies jumped to 2.6 times the four-week average, boosted by a single bet that an exchange-traded fund tracking 40 companies including Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. will retreat by February. Almost 56,000 puts to sell the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund changed hands as of 4 p.m. in New York, nine times the number of calls to buy. The ETF rose to the highest since September 2008, climbing 1 percent to $66.99. Most of the volume was concentrated in a single trade in which an investor initiating a new position bought 20,000 February $66 puts and sold 10,000 February $69 puts in a spread strategy, options strategists at Susquehanna International Group LLP wrote in a report. Using a spread strategy caps potential gains while cutting the cost of the trade. “This investor is likely positioning for substantial weakness in shares heading into February expiration,” the Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania-based strategists wrote. Those contracts expire Feb. 18.
- Fuel-Oil Loss in Asia Set to Jump to Two-year High on Glut: Energy Markets. Refining losses from producing fuel oil in Asia may widen 30 percent to the most in two years in the next month as an increase in crude processing leads to a glut. The loss from turning crude into the fuel, the so-called crack spread, may rise to $13 a barrel by the end of January from about $10 this month, a Bloomberg News survey of four traders showed. The last time it was at that level was in November 2008, when crude traded below $60 a barrel, compared with almost $90 today, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
- Bloomberg Sues ECB to Force Disclosure of How Greece's Swaps Hid Deficit. Bloomberg News filed a lawsuit against the European Central Bank, seeking to make it disclose documents showing how Greece used derivatives to hide its fiscal deficit and helped trigger the region’s sovereign debt crisis.
- China Raises Gasoline Prices for Third Time This Year as Global Costs Jump. China raised gasoline and diesel prices today by less than half of what crude oil has gained in the past month as the world’s fastest-growing major economy seeks to contain inflation. The price of gasoline will rise by as much as 4 percent to 310 yuan ($47) a metric ton and diesel by 300 yuan a ton, the National Development and Reform Commission said in a statement on its website yesterday, the third increase this year in the world’s second-largest oil consumer.
- China's Risk-Weighting Rule May Cut Banks' Capital, Profits, Barclays Says. China’s higher risk-weighting requirements on $1.2 trillion of loans to local governments will cut banks’ capital adequacy ratios and profits, according to Barclays Capital. The China Banking Regulatory Commission may require lenders to assign 100 percent risk weightings for loans fully covered by cash flows, up from the current 50 percent, and as much as a 300 percent for uncovered loans, Barclays said in a note today, citing a China Business News report published yesterday. The risk-weighting rule has already been made official, the note said, citing unidentified banks.
- Trader Holds $3 Billion of Copper in London. As commodity prices soar to new records, the ability of a few traders to hold huge swaths of the world's stockpiles is coming under scrutiny. The latest example is in the copper market, where a single trader has reported it owns 80% to 90% of the copper sitting in London Metal Exchange warehouses, equal to about half of the world's exchange-registered copper stockpile and worth about $3 billion. The report coincided with copper prices soaring to new records on Tuesday.
- Confidentiality Cloaks Medicare Abuse.
- The Net Neutrality Coup. The campaign to regulate the Internet was funded by a who's who of left-liberal foundations. The Federal Communications Commission's new "net neutrality" rules, passed on a partisan 3-2 vote yesterday, represent a huge win for a slick lobbying campaign run by liberal activist groups and foundations. The losers are likely to be consumers who will see innovation and investment chilled by regulations that treat the Internet like a public utility.
- Nike(NKE) Results Beat Street, but Future Orders Disappoint.
- Pro Traders: Market Has Every Reason to Melt-Up.
- China Banks May Face Higher Reserve Ratios in 2011. Leading Chinese banks could be required to set aside 23% of their deposits as reserves next year, as authorities seek to increase administrative measures to drain excess cash from the financial system, according to a China Daily report Wednesday, citing a leading economist's comments. The reserve-ratio hike will elevate the rate to the highest on record for any central bank, the state-run newspaper reported Industrial Bank Co.'s chief economist Lu Zhengwei as saying Tuesday.
- Confirmed: Bank of America(BAC) is the WikiLeaks Target.
- Here Come More Secret Recordings That Could Break Apart The UK Government.
IBD:
- Vast Database Helps Amateur Sleuths Probe Their Family Trees. Provo, Utah-based Ancestry.com (ACOM) is doing just that. And to this point, it's doing very well.
- 10 Fastest Growing States.
- $305 on Gas This Month - Bah! Humbug! Holiday shoppers will need to bump up their budget for one purchase this year, and they can't even put it under the tree: gasoline. The price of fuel is up 13.6% from last December and 76% higher from December 2008, according to a new study from the Oil Price Information Service. Nationwide, drivers are estimated to spend $305 on gasoline in December.
- Verizon(VZ) iPhone Won't be AT&T's Doomsday.
Politico:
- EPA to Double Down on Climate. The Obama administration is expected to roll out a major greenhouse gas policy for power plants and refineries as soon as Wednesday, signaling it won’t back off its push to fight climate change in the face of mounting opposition on Capitol Hill. The Environmental Protection Agency has agreed to a schedule for setting greenhouse gas emission limits, known as “performance standards,” for the nation’s two biggest carbon-emitting industries, POLITICO has learned.
Reuters:
- Red Hat(RHT) Outlook Beats Wall Street View. Business software maker Red Hat Inc issued an outlook for profit and revenue above Wall Street projections on Tuesday, echoing optimism about the technology spending climate shown by bigger industry companies last week. Red Hat Chief Executive Jim Whitehurst said that market demand for his company's products was "strong" as revenue exceeded Wall Street projections. "We are seeing expansion of green shoots," he said in an interview.
- Tibco Software(TIBX) Forecasts Strong Q1. Business software maker Tibco Software Inc forecast first-quarter revenue above analysts' estimates and reiterated its fiscal 2011 earnings growth forecast.
- Xilinx(XLNX) Sees Larger Rev Drop in Q3, Shares Fall. n">Programmable chipmaker Xilinx Inc said it expects a sequential decline in third-quarter revenue due to weaker sales to a few large communications customers, sending its shares down 6 percent after the bell. The company now expects a 7-9 percent sequential decline in quarterly revenue, which is greater than the flat to 4 percent fall it had forecast earlier.
- New START Treaty: The Obama Administration is Dancing to Moscow's Tune. Moscow has every reason to like it. As I noted in a previous post, the treaty fundamentally undercuts US national security by giving Russia a huge say over American plans for a global missile defense system:
- Lai Fung Says China Property Sales May Decline 20%. Lai Fung Holdings expects property sales on the mainland to slow down next year as the impact of wider macroeconomic curbs are beginning to be felt in the real estate market.
Citigroup:
- Reiterated Buy on (FINL), target $21.
- Reiterated Buy on (CCL), boosted target to $56.
- Asian equity indices are unch. to +.50% on average.
- Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 104.5 -1.5 basis points.
- Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 105.25 -1.5 basis points.
- S&P 500 futures -.09%
- NASDAQ 100 futures -.16%.
Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate
- (WAG)/.54
- (AM)/.69
- (BBBY)/.65
- (MU)/.27
- (NAV)/.59
- (PPC)/.19
8:30 am EST
- Revised 3Q GDP is estimated to rise +2.8% versus a prior estimate of a +2.5% gain.
- Revised 3Q Personal Consumption is estimated to rise +2.9% versus a prior estimate of a +2.8% gain.
- Revised 3Q GDP Price Index is estimated to rise +2.3% versus a prior estimate of a +2.3% increase.
- Revised 3Q Core PCE is estimated to rise +.8% versus a prior estimate of a +.8% gain.
- Existing Home Sales for November are estimated to rise to 4.75M versus 4.43M in October.
- The House Price Index for October is estimated to fall -.2% versus a -.7% decline in September.
- Bloomberg consensus estimates call for a weekly crude oil inventory decline of -3,400,000 barrels versus a -9,854,000 barrel decline the prior week. Gasoline supplies are estimated to rise by +1,500,000 barrels versus a +809,000 barrel gain the prior week. Distillate inventories are expected unch. versus a +1,094,000 barrel gain the prior week. Finally, Refinery Utilization is estimated unch. versus a +.5% gain the prior week.
- None of note
- The weekly MBA mortgage applications report could also impact trading today.
Stocks Rising into Final Hour on Less Financial Sector Pessimism, Diminishing Economic Fear, Seasonal Strength, Investor Performance Angst
Broad Market Tone:
- Advance/Decline Line: Higher
- Sector Performance: Almost Every Sector Rising
- Volume: Light
- Market Leading Stocks: Performing In Line
- VIX 15.36 -.30%
- ISE Sentiment Index 136.0 +7.09%
- Total Put/Call .73 +1.39%
- NYSE Arms .60 +7.29%
- North American Investment Grade CDS Index 85.25 -1.17%
- European Financial Sector CDS Index 159.94 bps +3.73%
- Western Europe Sovereign Debt CDS Index 192.50 bps -.69%
- Emerging Market CDS Index 209.12 bps -.76%
- 2-Year Swap Spread 21.0 -2 bps
- TED Spread 18.0 -2 bps
- 3-Month T-Bill Yield .12% +2 bps
- Yield Curve 271.0 -3 bps
- China Import Iron Ore Spot $169.90/Metric Tonne +.18%
- Citi US Economic Surprise Index +17.60 +.2 point
- 10-Year TIPS Spread 2.28% unch.
- Nikkei Futures: Indicating +45 open in Japan
- DAX Futures: Indicating +18 open in Germany
- Higher: On gains in my Tech, Ag, Biotech and Retail long positions
- Disclosed Trades: Covered all of my (IWM)/(QQQQ) hedges and some of my (EEM) short
- Market Exposure: Moved to 100% Net Long
Today's Headlines
Bloomberg:
- Retail Sales Growth Accelerated to 4.2% Last Week. Same-store sales at a selection of U.S. retailers posted last week the biggest jump of this holiday season, rising 4.2 percent as more consumers finished shopping, according to a survey of retailers. Almost 74 percent of shoppers completed gift buying in the week ended Dec. 18, spurring faster sales growth than the previous three weeks. That compared with 56.6 percent a week earlier, according to a chain-store sales index released today by New York-based International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. The 4.2 percent gain compared to a year earlier.
- Portugal's Bond Rating May Be Cut by Moody's on Economic Growth Concern. Portugal’s bond rating may be downgraded one or two levels by Moody’s Investors Service because of concerns that budget cuts will worsen the country’s “sluggish” economic growth. “Portugal’s solvency is not in question,” Anthony Thomas, Moody’s London-based lead analyst for Portugal, said in a statement today. “But the likely deterioration in debt affordability over the medium term and ongoing concerns about the economy’s ability to withstand fiscal consolidation and private-sector deleveraging mean its outlook may no longer be consistent with an A1 rating.”
- Bond Returns Worst in Asia as Inflation Hits Two-Year High: China Credit. China’s bonds are Asia’s worst performers for the second time in four years, reflecting concern the central bank will have to be more aggressive in raising interest rates as it seeks to rein in inflation.
- Greece Has Ratings Put on Rating Watch Negative by Fitch. Greece had its ‘BBB-’ long term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings placed on Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings. The move to RWN is pending the outcome of a rating review by Fitch, expected to be completed in January, “which will focus on an assessment of Greece’s fiscal sustainability in the wake of the measures that the authorities have taken this year under the IMF-EU program,” as well as the outlook for the economy and the “political will and capacity” of Greece to carry out the reforms, Fitch said in a statement.
- NYSE Tweaks Trading Prices to Appeal to High-Frequency Firms. The New York Stock Exchange is changing prices for transactions on its market for the first time since May as it seeks to lure more business from high- frequency trading firms, according to an exchange notice. Brokers and traders will pay 23 cents per 100 shares starting in January to execute against bids and offers at the exchange, 2 cents higher than the current charge. Those placing orders that wait for executions at the Big Board, the largest U.S. equities venue, will get a rebate of 15 cents, up from 13 cents.
- Amazon(AMZN) Said to Exceed Kindle Sales Estimates by 60%. Amazon.com Inc. is likely to sell more than 8 million Kindle electronic-book readers this year, at least 60 percent more than analysts have predicted, according to two people who are aware of the company’s sales projections.
Wall Street Journal:
- Banks Look to Profit on Muni-Bond Fears. Some of the world's biggest banks are lining up to profit from worries about the declining finances of U.S. cities and states. For the first time in two years, Switzerland's UBS AG(UBS) has begun making markets in derivatives tied to municipal bonds and other securities. The credit-default swaps obligate swap sellers to compensate buyers if a municipal issuer misses an interest payment or restructures its debt. Separately, five large derivatives dealers—Bank of America Corp.'s Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Inc., CitigroupGoldman Sachs Group Inc., J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., and Morgan Stanley—met last month in New York to discuss standardizing the paperwork for "muni CDSs" in an effort to attract more buyers and sellers. The issue is politically explosive. States and cities are suspicious of CDSs, saying they encourage speculators to bet on, and at times worsen, states' financial distress. California is about to require all 86 of its underwriting banks to disclose what CDSs they have traded on the state's debt, either for customers or for their own accounts. But just as states grow fearful of more muni CDS trading, federal regulators are trying to streamline and bring more transparency to the derivatives market, which may have the effect of expanding the number of muni CDS contracts outstanding. "There is no evidence that CDS trading has provided any benefits to the municipal-bond market, and further we have seen little evidence that it serves much purpose beyond allowing speculators to get rich," said Tom Dresslar, spokesman for the California state treasurer's office. Muni CDSs are still thinly traded because the contracts are highly customized and difficult to unwind. Two-thirds of muni-bond buyers are households and individuals investing through mutual funds, who don't use derivatives. Hedge funds, meanwhile, are muni CDS buyers. "In the spring, when we saw muni CDS costs start rising, we found out it was hedge funds trying to profit from a muni disaster," said Jeffrey Cleveland, senior economist at Los Angeles money manager Payden & Rygel. "They're looking for the next subprime." After 17 consecutive weeks of inflows into U.S. muni-bond funds, including exchange-traded funds, the last five weeks saw $9.1 billion of outflows, according to data from Lipper, a Thomson Reuters unit. Risk premiums on triple-A-rated corporate debt over risk-free government debt have declined by 1.22% over the past month, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch index data, but risk premiums have climbed 14.3% in the case of triple-A muni debt. Likewise, insurance on a default from California and Illinois, two of the most commonly quoted CDS contracts, has become more expensive. As of Monday, the cost of protection against a California default was 295 basis points, or hundredths of a percentage point, equivalent to $295,000 a year for 10 years of insurance on $10 million of bonds, according to Markit. A year ago, the same protection was $253,000. The cost of protecting that much Illinois debt was around $318,000 a year, compared with $161,000 a year ago.
- Extended Fed Currency Swaps Not Sign of Fresh Concern. The Federal Reserve’s extension of it currency swap arrangements with other major central bank reflects continued unease around the state of European financial markets. That said, the decision to maintain the swap lines with the Bank of Canada, Bank of England, the European Central Bank, the Bank of Japan and Swiss National Bank, should be viewed more as a protective action on the part of American officials. It is not, most economists reckon, a sign that some new problem is about to arise, even as it’s true investors remain worried by news out of Europe.
- Iraqi Parliament Approves Unity Government After Nine Months of Wrangling. Iraq’s parliament approved the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who vowed to pursue national reconciliation, after nine months of post-election wrangling.
- Business Roundtable Names John Engler of NAM as New President. The Business Roundtable, the association of major U.S. companies’ chief executives, today named John Engler, head of the National Association of Manufacturers, as its new president. Engler, who will take over the Washington-based roundtable next month, said his priority would be to spur economic growth. The U.S. unemployment rate was 9.8 percent in November.
- Toshiba Aims to Release Larger Glasses-Free 3-D TV.
- Nuclear Pact Moves Closer to Passage. A new nuclear-arms treaty with Russia appears headed for ratification after three additional Republican senators announced their support Tuesday morning.
- FCC Gives Government Power to Regulate Web Traffic. Federal telecommunications regulators approved new rules Tuesday that would for the first time give the federal government formal authority to regulate Internet traffic, although how much or for how long remained unclear.
- Goldman's(GS) O'Neill Sees 2011 as 'Year of USA'. Improving growth, falling unemployment and a sense that the U.S. is returning to "normal" could fuel a 20 percent stock market gain and make 2011 the "Year of the USA," according to Goldman Sachs economist Jim O'Neill.
- Student Loan Reform Puts Taxpayers on the Hook. The landmark healthcare reform law signed by President Obama last March included a relatively little-noticed provision that overhauled the federal student loan program. Previously, private companies made the loans, which were subsidized and guaranteed by the federal government. Under the reforms, the government now lends the money directly to students. The change means the government fronts the money and instantly bears all the risk.
- Now That Apple(AAPL) is Passing 1 Million Apple TVs Sold, You Can Bet There Will Be An App Store.
- 16 US Cities Facing Bankruptcy if They Don't Make Deep Cuts in 2011.
- A Deep Look at the Winners and Losers of the 2010 Census.
- The SEC is Conducting a Wide Investigation of Possible Chinese Stock Fraud.
- Huge Photos of the Massive Snow Mess Ruining the Holidays in Europe.
- Verigy(VRGY), Advantest(ATE) in Talks. Advantest is in merger talks with rival semiconductor test systems maker Verigy, The Post has learned. The suitor is trying to break up a proposed Verigy merger with LTX-Credence and is engaged in talks, two sources close to the situation said. "They (Verigy) are not shutting out Advantest," one of the sources said. "I wouldn't categorize the talks, though, as going well," the source added.
- UK Released Lockerbie Bomber to Save Oil Deal, Report Says. Fear of "commercial warfare" from Libya led the British government to pressure Scotland to free the convicted Lockerbie bomber last year, according to a report set to be released Tuesday by four US senators. The lengthy report, which calls on the British and Scottish governments to apologize for Abdel Baset al Megrahi's release, concludes that a $900 million oil deal with Libya ultimately paved the way for the Scottish justice system to free Megrahi in August 2009. The report asserts that faulty medical analysis was used to justify his release on "compassionate" grounds, a decision described as a crass component of a complicated trade relationship between the United Kingdom and Libya.
- For Activist Funds, A Long-Term Approach to Investing. Cevian Capital isn’t exactly a hedge fund, though it classifies itself that way in public filings. It takes significant ownership stakes in companies for three to five years, but it isn’t really private equity, either. Cevian, a $3.5 billion firm that is based in Europe with mostly American investors — Carl C. Icahn and the Florida Teachers Pension Fund among them — calls itself an “operational activist fund.” It is among a growing body of investors who eschew the limelight and push for longer-term operational changes at companies.
- Latest Terror Threat in U.S. Aimed to Poison Food. Exclusive: The Dept. of Homeland Security Uncovered a Plot to Attack Hotels and Restaurants Over a Single Weekend.
- Attorney General's Blunt Warning on Terror Attacks. (video) In a rare and wide-ranging interview, the attorney general disclosed chilling, new details about the evolving threat of homegrown terror, and touched on topics ranging from Wikileaks to the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.
- VF(VFC) to Acquire Rock & Republic for $57 Million. VF Corp. has inked a deal to acquire bankrupt premium denim maker Rock & Republic for $57 million, WWD has learned. An official announcement is expected as soon as today.
- Employers' Burden Could Surge. In Florida, minimum unemployment taxes paid by employers could double or triple next year. As U.S. employers brace for higher state unemployment insurance taxes next year, business groups are urging Congress to delay interest penalties on $42 billion states have borrowed to continue paying jobless benefits during the recession. Thirty states and the Virgin Islands, including Florida, have exhausted their unemployment insurance trust fund reserves and are using U.S. treasury funds to maintain benefit checks for millions of workers who lost jobs through no fault of their own. So far, only Maryland, New Hampshire, South Dakota and Tennessee have paid back their loans in full, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. California, with an unemployment rate of 12.4 percent, leads all borrowers with more than $9.1 billion owed. Hard-hit Michigan is a distant second and owes more than $3.8 billion. A provision of the stimulus bill waived interest on the loans for the past two years, but that respite expires on Dec. 31 and interest begins accruing on the outstanding loans in 2011. Unless Congress intercedes, states that don't pay off their loans by Sept. 30, must either pay interest on their average daily loan balance for the first nine months of 2011 -- or give back their federal grant that is used to administer their state programs. The federal government estimates the collective interest on the outstanding loans will total about $2 billion in 2011, while continued state borrowing is expected to stretch the outstanding loan amount to $65 billion by fiscal year 2013.
- Survey: 1 in 5 Americans Will Own a Tablet, And a Third Will Use It for Business. More than 1 in 5 Americans will own a tablet by 2014, and 37 percent of them will own them for business use, according to the survey. About half of all tablet owners plan to use the devices for social networking. Enterprise applications continue their charge into the mobile market and are set to take over about a third of all tablets in the next few years, according to a new survey conducted by Harris Interactive and sponsored by Fuze Box.
Reuters:
- U.S. Healthcare Sector Ripe for More Deals in 2011.
- Holdings in Physical Copper ETP Up About 850.5 Tons.
- Citigroup Warns of Fresh Wave of Bank Defaults in Europe. Citigroup has warned of a fresh wave of bank failures and sovereign defaults in Europe unless EU leaders come up with a credible response to the crisis.
- ECB Wants Changes to Bill Tackling Banking Crisis. THE EUROPEAN Central Bank (ECB) wants the Government to change legislation that gives the Minister for Finance broad powers to intervene in the banking sector. The ECB, one of the three institutions backing the €85 billion bailout agreed with the Government last month, has criticised the Credit Institutions (Stabilisation) Bill, which is designed to give the Government the powers it needs to tackle the two-year-old banking crisis. The ECB has published a legal opinion which states that it fears the law as it stands could usurp its rights over collateral given as security for liquidity it has provided to Irish banks, which owe it €136 billion.
Bear Radar
Style Underperformer:
- Large-Cap Growth (+.45%)
- 1) Education -.85% 2) Medical Equipment -.72% 3) Gold -.37%
- GOLD, ITMN, HMIN, LBTYA, CPY, ROC, KMX, DRI and RDY
- 1) MCP 2) GRMN 3) PXP 4) SKX 5) DRI
- 1) URBN 2) SKX 3) ATML 4) HIW 5) MD
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