Thursday, February 17, 2011

Thursday Watch

Posted by Gary .....at 12:42 AM

Evening Headlines
Bloomberg:
  • Mideast Protests Spread to Libya Amid Bahrain Apologies, Clashes in Yemen. Pro-democracy demonstrations stretched into a third day in Bahrain, while police and anti- regime protesters clashed in Yemen and Libya, the latest country in the region hit by demands for change. Hundreds of Bahrainis gathered yesterday at the funeral of a demonstrator, who died in protests Feb. 15. They are demanding democracy and the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa, a member of the Sunni Muslim royal family who has held the post for four decades. The dissent in Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet, follows the toppling of autocratic rulers by popular movements in Egypt and Tunisia and marks the spread of unrest into the Persian Gulf, where most of the Middle East’s oil is produced. Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, are key U.S. allies, and Yemen is supported by the Obama administration in a campaign against al-Qaeda. “These movements are emboldening everybody who has grievances, whether they are a minority that wants to have equal rights or a majority that wants a functioning democracy,” Ebrahim Sharif, a Sunni who heads Bahrain’s National Democratic Action Society, said in an interview yesterday. “There is a feeling of people being empowered by these movements, that we are powerful. I think we are affecting even Iran.”
  • Two Iranian Warships May Pass Through Suez Canal, Israel's Lieberman Says. Two Iranian warships in the Red Sea are preparing to transit Egypt’s Suez Canal en route to Syria, Israel’s foreign minister said, calling it another of Iran’s “provocations.” The Suez Canal Authority’s head of traffic, Ahmed El Manakhly, speaking by telephone, said yesterday that he hadn’t been informed of any Iranian warships planning to pass through the waterway. El Manakhly said military ships passing through the canal must first obtain permission from the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
  • NYSE(NYX) Euronext Sued Over Deutsche Boerse Takeover. NYSE Euronext, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, was sued by shareholders seeking to block its planned $9.53 billion sale to Deutsche Boerse AG, a deal that would create the world’s largest owner of equities and derivatives markets. The all-stock transaction is “grossly inadequate” and resulted from a flawed process, lawyers for shareholder Samuel T. Cohen said in a complaint made public today in Delaware Chancery Court in Wilmington. The proposed sale values NYSE at less than targets in similar deals, such as London Stock Exchange Group Plc’s purchase of Canada’s TMX Group Inc., according to the lawsuit. “There appears to have been no sales process, and the proposed transaction did not emerge from an auction,” Cohen’s lawyers said in the complaint. “A board that provides a would- be acquirer with an exclusive opportunity to bid on a company and fails to conduct a market-check, does not act in the interests of shareholders.” Investors said in another lawsuit, filed today in New York Supreme Court, said the sale will result in New York Stock Exchange shareholders owning 40 percent of the acquired company, with the remaining 60 percent held by Deutsche Boerse AG. The sale offers “no meaningful premium to NYSE’s public shareholders” and will “result in a loss of control of the company and its prospects,” according to the complaint.
  • Citigroup(C) Gives Senior Executives Stock-Option Bonus on 18 Million Shares. Citigroup Inc., the third-largest U.S. bank by assets, granted 15 executives options on 18.2 million shares as part of their 2010 pay, according to filings. Banks are under pressure to curb bonuses after receiving taxpayer-funded bailouts during the financial crisis of 2008. Citigroup received a $45 billion bailout, some of which the U.S. Treasury converted into a stake in the lender last year. Citigroup last month awarded separate stock bonuses for executives valued at almost $50 million. Six, including Havens, Medina-Mora and Gerspach, also shared “stock salary” last year valued at more than $37 million on an annualized basis, according to a Sep. 24 filing.
  • China Money Rate Climbs on Speculation Reserve Ratio Will Rise. China’s benchmark money-market rate jumped the most in a week on speculation the central bank will lift banks’ reserve-requirement ratios to help curb inflation. The People’s Bank of China has ordered lenders to set aside more funds as reserves four times since October in an effort to drain liquidity from the financial system. Consumer prices increased 4.9 percent in January from a year earlier, exceeding policy makers 4 percent inflation ceiling for a fourth month, data showed this week. “There’s fear of a possible reserve-requirement hike very soon,” said Pin Ru Tan, a Singapore-based strategist at Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc. The seven-day repurchase rate, a gauge of the availability of funds, rose 34 basis points to 2.93 percent, according to a daily fixing from the National Interbank Funding Center published at 11 a.m. in Shanghai. That’s the biggest increase since Feb. 9.
  • Fed Tells Banks to Stress-Test Capital for Recession With 11% Unemployment. The Federal Reserve ordered the 19 largest U.S. banks to test their capital levels against a scenario of renewed recession with unemployment rising above 11 percent, said two people with knowledge of the review. The banks stress-tested the performance of their loans, securities, earnings, and capital against at least three possible economic outcomes as part of a broader capital-planning exercise. The banks, including some seeking to increase dividends cut during the financial crisis, submitted their plans last month. The Fed will finish its review in March. “They’re essentially saying, ‘Before you start returning capital to shareholders, let’s make sure banks’ capital bases are strong enough to withstand a double-dip scenario,’ ” said Jonathan Hatcher, a credit strategist specializing in banks at New York-based Jefferies Group Inc. Regulators don’t want to see banks “come crawling back for help later,” he said.
Wall Street Journal:
  • Companies Prod SEC on Whistleblower Proposal. Large U.S. companies are asking the Securities and Exchange Commission to require that workers report wrongdoing to employers in order to be eligible for payments under the agency's new "whistleblower" program. Google Inc.(GOOG) and General Electric Co.(GE) are among the more than two dozen companies that have written letters to the SEC, asking the agency to revise its proposed rules for awarding bounties to workers who report information about corporate fraud or wrongdoing.
  • China Blocks U.S. Push on Web Freedom. A day after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's pledge to promote Internet freedom world-wide, Chinese censors tried to snuff out efforts by U.S. diplomats to generate debate on the issue on Twitter-like microblogs in the country with the world's most Internet users—and its most sophisticated censorship system.
  • They Were Best Friends, Until the Feds Showed Up. Donald Longueuil and Noah Freeman were tight. They worked together as money managers at giant hedge fund SAC Capital Advisors. They skated together and vacationed together. And, prosecutors say, they traded on inside information together.
  • Study Shows Cancer Drug Avastin Treats Infant Eye Disease. An inexpensive drug therapy far surpassed a conventional laser procedure in fixing a leading cause of blindness in babies born prematurely, according to a new study.
  • Big Banks Face Fines on Role of Servicers. A review of mortgage-servicing practices by U.S. regulators found serious problems with internal controls and staffing levels at the companies, which are likely to result in formal enforcement action against more than a dozen major financial institutions, according to people familiar with the situation. The penalties against Bank of America Corp., J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Wells Fargo & Co. and 11 other home-loan servicers being investigated since last fall over breakdowns in procedures for payment collection, loan modifications and foreclosures could include fines and changes in how the companies operate, these people said.
  • Outlook for Food Prices: High. Corn to Cotton, Farmers Have Bevy of Planting Choices; Stockpiles Remain Thin.
MarketWatch:
  • What JPMorgan(JPM) CEO Knew Is Key To Madoff Suit. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive James Dimon wasn't informed about a formal report that raised suspicions about Bernard Madoff prior to Madoff's arrest. But he did know about the bank's 2008 decision to pull money from many hedge funds, some of which turned out to be Madoff-related, according to people familiar with the Madoff case. It wasn't until after Mr. Madoff's December 2008 arrest that the CEO was given a full accounting of the firm's exposure and told that some of the funds had ties to Mr. Madoff, these people added.
  • 'Toxic' Securities Turn Lucrative for Banks. Investment banks and hedge funds are once again making money from a sector that was defunct only 18 months ago: U.S. mortgage-backed securities, the loan products that spread the credit crunch throughout the world. Only two years later, and despite the fact that many U.S. cities are on the edge of bankruptcy, these securities have turned into one of the most lucrative profit areas for banks, such as Credit Suisse Group, UBS AG or Société Générale SA.
Business Insider:
Zero Hedge:
  • Is Apple's(AAPL) Afterhours Weakness Based On The Assessment Of A Less Than Credible "Doctor?" As is by now well-known, Apple stock is underperforming after hours following reports of an allegedly sickly-looking Steve Jobs leaving the Stanford cancer center. The National Enquirer has released photos supposedly of an emaciated Jobs, yet one who is not readily identifiable as the Apple CEO. The National Enquirer, who initially reported the news today (to be published tomorrow), talked to critical-care physician Dr. Samuel Jacobson, who said, “Judging from the photos, he is close to terminal. I would say he has six weeks.” That said, given the reliability of The National Enquirer, waiting for further news before jumping to conclusions is advised. Furthermore, as TNW reports, "We’ve done a little digging into Dr. Samuel Jacobson. Jacobson appears to be a Florida based pulmonologist (breathing doctor) – not Oncologist. Which would naturally make you wonder just how qualified he is to diagnose someone via a photo, especially outside of his speciality."
New York Times:
  • Former Freddie CFO Gets Wells Notice. The former chief financial officer of Freddie Mac has been notified by securities regulators that they may soon file civil charges against him stemming from his tenure at the mortgage finance company, according to a recent public filing. Anthony Piszel, known as Buddy, who was Freddie’s C.F.O. from late 2006 to 2008, received a so-called Wells notice from the Securities and Exchange Commission, an indication the agency is considering an enforcement action against him.
  • A Life's Value May Depend on Government Agency. As the players here remake the nation’s vast regulatory system, they have been grappling with a subject that is more the province of poets and philosophers than bureaucrats: what is the value of a human life? The answer determines how much spending the government should require to prevent a single death.
Forbes:
CNN Money:
  • Illinois Governor Proposes Borrowing $8.7 Billion. A month after Illinois lawmakers approved a massive tax hike, Gov. Pat Quinn unveiled Wednesday a $35.4 billion budget that depends on state lawmakers approving $8.75 billion in borrowing largely to clear a towering stack of unpaid bills. The budget, which increases spending by $1.7 billion from the previous year and closes a $13 billion gap, slashes programs for the elderly, the poor and the disabled, but leaves education funding largely untouched. No layoffs of state workers are suggested.
Washington Post:
  • North Korea Has Completed Missile Facility, Satellite Imagery Shows. The latest satellite imagery indicates that North Korea has completed construction of a second - and more modern - missile launch facility, a vital step in its efforts to successfully launch intercontinental ballistic missiles. The images, first obtained by VOA News, indicate an expansive launch pad positioned next to a launch tower that stands more than 100 feet tall. Though analysts have known about the facility's construction for at least two years, the site's apparent completion - in spite of scarce domestic resources and international sanctions - suggests that long-range missile development remains a top priority in Pyongyang.
LA Times:
  • Bell 8: Six Officials Ordered to Stand Trial for Looting City Treasury. Six current or former Bell City Council members were ordered Wednesday to stand trial on felony charges that they drew extraordinary salaries for serving on boards and commissions that met so rarely that one elected official testified that he wasn’t even sure what the agencies did.
AppleInsider:
  • Apple's(AAPL) Steve Jobs to Meet With President Obama on Thursday. Apple CEO Steve Jobs will reportedly join Google chief executive Eric Schmidt and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in a meeting with US President Barack Obama in San Francisco on Thursday. Though recent reports have alleged that Jobs' health has continued to decline, the executive is scheduled to attend a business leaders' event with President Obama Thursday evening, a source told ABC News.
Politico:
  • Dianne Feinstein: U.S. Intel Missed Warnings in Egypt. The chairwoman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence argued Wednesday that the U.S. intelligence community largely missed early warning signs of the unrest that ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak last week, in part because American officials paid little attention to social media tools like Twitter and Facebook. “I mean, I’m not a big computer person, but I looked at Facebook, and I am not a member of Facebook, but you could get right in and you could see everything about it,” committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said at an annual hearing on worldwide threats. “It seems to me that this ought to be watched very carefully to be able to give our policymakers and our leadership some advance notice, and I think we were at fault in that regard.”
  • House GOPers Propose Amendments to Defund Health Care Law. Among the dozens of amendments filed last night with the House Rules Committee are two that would attempt to defund the Democratic health care law passed last year. The limitation amendments are offered by Reps. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.) and Cathy McMorris Rogers (R-Wash.). The measures will be voted along with the rest of the continuing resolution on Thursday. Rehberg’s amendment specifies that no “funds made available by this act may be paid to any employee, officer, contractor, or grantee of any department or agency…to implement the provisions of” the law. McMorris Rogers’ amendment takes aim at Internal Revenue Service officers. Like Republicans' previous attempt to pull the plug on the health care law, the Democrat-controlled Senate has shown no interest in defunding the law.
  • Darrell Issa's First Subpoena Targets Countrywide VIP Program. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa’s first subpoena takes aim at Countrywide Financial’s VIP program, launching a probe that seeks to out lawmakers who got sweetheart terms on home loans. The California Republican issued an unusually wide-ranging subpoena for documents about the defunct lender’s program, demanding names, addresses and e-mail exchanges of all those involved, a major expansion of an inquiry launched in the preceding Congress.
Rasmussen Reports:
Reuters:
  • Williams(WMB) to Split in Two; Shares Surge. Williams Cos said on Wednesday it plans to split the company's pipeline and exploration businesses into two separate publicly traded entities, sending its shares up 12 percent. The U.S. company expects the split to speed up growth and increase the valuation of its assets, it said. Williams' board also raised the dividend 60 percent in the first quarter, with additional increases of 10 percent to 15 percent targeted for dividends paid starting in June 2012.
  • FDA Approves Wider Use of Allergan(AGN) Stomach Band. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved expanded use of Allergan Inc's stomach band, allowing it to be implanted in people who are less obese than those now approved as candidates for the weight-loss surgery, the drug company said on Wednesday.
  • U.S. Risk Council Breaks Non-Bank World Into Four. The new U.S. financial risk council has divided non-bank financial institutions that could be subject to additional oversight into four categories, including hedge funds and insurers. The Dodd-Frank law gives the government the authority to seize a large, failing financial institution so that it can be liquidated without causing too much chaos in the financial markets, such as occurred when Lehman Brothers went bankrupt in September of 2008. Under this system, the new Financial Stability Oversight Council is supposed to designate financial firms other than banks that are "predominantly engaged in financial activities" and could pose a threat to financial markets. These firms will be overseen by the Federal Reserve.
  • Libyan Online Protesters Prepare For "day of rage". Protesters in Libya were planning to take to the streets for a "day of rage," on Thursday inspired by uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, but rights groups warned of a possible crackdown by security forces. In a country where public dissent is rare, plans for the protests were being circulated by anonymous activists on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, and it was not clear if the demonstrations would materialise.
  • Gresham - CFTC Limits Unfairly "insulate" Ag Markets.
  • Nvidia(NVDA) Sees Strong Q1 as Mobile Chip Takes Off. Nvidia Corp forecast quarterly revenue above expectations and said revenue of its Tegra 2 mobile chips were accelerating. Sales of Nvidia's new mobile chips in the current quarter will become larger than revenue from its dwindling chipset business and grow over the year as a next-generation processor also hits the market, executives said. Nvidia's shares lost ground in after hours trade as some investors focused on the company's rising operating expenses.
  • US Senator Pushes For Oil Sands Pipeline Approval. A leading Republican Senator on Wednesday called for the White House to approve the Keystone pipeline that would transport crude from Canadian oil sands to the Gulf coast. "Boosting trade with Canada offers tremendous opportunity to improve our energy security," Lugar said in a speech to the Alliance to Save Energy. "This pipeline is critical to American efforts to enhance the reliability of our oil supplies," he added. Lugar said the United States is too dependent on oil from hostile nations and the government must work to decrease vulnerability to supply shocks from the Middle East.
  • NetApp's(NTAP) Profit Outlook Disappoints, Shares Fall. Data storage equipment maker NetApp Inc. gave a weaker-than-expected profit forecast, blaming a components shortage, pushing the company's shares down 4 percent.
  • Miner Cliffs(CLF) Tops Profit Estimate, Stock Up 10%. Cliffs Natural Resources Inc reported a better-than-expected surge in quarterly profit as demand and prices for its iron ore and steel-making coal soared, and its shares rose nearly 10 percent.
  • Rubicon(RBCN) Q4 Tops Est; Sees Strong Q1 On Robust Demand. Rubicon Technology Inc's quarterly results trumped market estimates and the electronic materials provider forecast a robust first quarter helped by increasing demand from LED chip manufacturers, sending its shares up 14 percent in extended trade.
South China Morning Post:
  • One-Third of Chinese Mainland Firms Plan Pay Raises. One-third of foreign businesses on the mainland are expected to raise wages by more than 10 per cent this year as companies compete in the fast-growing market where highly skilled employees are in short supply.
Shanghai Securities News:
  • China's consumer prices may rise about 5.2% in February compared with a year earlier, Xu Pingsheng, a researcher with the State Information Center, wrote in a commentary. Food and residence-related prices drove the increase, Xu wrote.
Evening Recommendations
Citigroup:
  • Reiterated Buy on (WCG), target raised to $44.
  • Reiterated Buy on (OC), target raised to $47.
  • Reiterated Buy on (RIG), target raised to $88.
  • Reiterated Buy on (JAH), target raised to $50.
Night Trading
  • Asian equity indices are -.50% to +.50% on average.
  • Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 106.50 -2.0 basis points.
  • Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 121.0 -.5 basis point.
  • S&P 500 futures -.17%.
  • NASDAQ 100 futures -.15%.
Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate
  • (CPO)/.75
  • (STRA)/2.66
  • (WTW)/.55
  • (H)/.06
  • (PCG)/.72
  • (EOG)/.26
  • (DPS)/.64
  • (TBL)/.50
  • (WMB)/.28
  • (SPW)/1.10
  • (SJM)/1.26
  • (DUK)/.23
  • (TRW)/1.24
  • (TTC)/.41
  • (JWN)/.99
  • (SPWRA)/1.01
  • (CECO)/.78
  • (CF)/2.65
  • (RRGB)/.04
  • (INTU)/.31
  • (BUCY)/1.30
  • (APA)/2.45
  • (VMI)/1.13
Economic Releases
8:30 am EST
  • The Consumer Price Index for January is estimated to rise +.3% versus a +.5% gain in December.
  • The CPI Ex Food & Energy for January is estimated to rise +.1% versus a +.1% gain in December.
  • Initial Jobless Claims for last week are estimated to rise to 400K versus 383K the prior week.
  • Continuing Claims are estimated to rise to 3893K versus 3888K prior.
10:00 am EST
  • Leading Indicators for January are estimated to rise +.2% versus a +1.0% gain in December.
  • Philly Fed for February is estimated to rise to 21.0 versus a reading of 19.3 in January.
Upcoming Splits
  • (SFUN) 4-for-1
Other Potential Market Movers
  • The Fed's Evans speaking, $9 Billion 30-Year TIPS Auction, 4Q Mortgage Delinquencies, 4Q Mortgage Foreclosures, weekly EIA natural gas inventory report, weekly Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index, Bloomberg Economic Expectations Index, Oppenheimer Semi Summit, Keefe Bruyette Woods Cards/Payments/Financial Tech Symposium, (DUK) investor meeting, (DIS) investor conference and the (JDSU) analyst day could also impact trading today.
BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly higher, boosted by technology and mining shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open modestly lower and to rally into the afternoon, finishing mixed. The Portfolio is 100% net long heading into the day.
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Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Stocks Higher into Final Hour on Fund Inflows, Stable Long-Term Rates/Energy Prices, Technical Buying, Earnings Optimism

Posted by Gary .....at 3:50 PM

Broad Market Tone:
  • Advance/Decline Line: Higher
  • Sector Performance: Almost Every Sector Rising
  • Volume: Slightly Above Average
  • Market Leading Stocks: Performing In Line
Equity Investor Angst:
  • VIX 16.61 +1.47%
  • ISE Sentiment Index 152.0 +46.15%
  • Total Put/Call .93 +6.90%
  • NYSE Arms 1.11 +27.64%
Credit Investor Angst:
  • North American Investment Grade CDS Index 79.95 -1.33%
  • European Financial Sector CDS Index 127.67 bps -5.62%
  • Western Europe Sovereign Debt CDS Index 174.83 bps -.76%
  • Emerging Market CDS Index 220.59 -.94%
  • 2-Year Swap Spread 20.0 -1 bp
  • TED Spread 20.0 +1 bp
Economic Gauges:
  • 3-Month T-Bill Yield .11% -1 bp
  • Yield Curve 278.0 unch.
  • China Import Iron Ore Spot $191.90/Metric Tonne +.68%
  • Citi US Economic Surprise Index +63.90 -3.5 points
  • 10-Year TIPS Spread 2.28% -1 bp
Overseas Futures:
  • Nikkei Futures: Indicating +72 open in Japan
  • DAX Futures: Indicating +13 open in Germany
Portfolio:
  • Higher: On gains in my Ag, Biotech, Medical and Tech long positions
  • Disclosed Trades: Covered all of my (IWM)/(QQQQ) hedges and some of my (EEM) short
  • Market Exposure: Moved to 100% Net Long
BOTTOM LINE: Today's overall market action is very bullish as the S&P 500 trades at new multi-year highs, despite recent equity gains, inflation concerns, Mideast saber-rattling and US housing worries. On the positive side, Homebuilding, Construction, HMO, Hospital, Medical, Wireless, Networking, Semis, Computer, Steel, Ag, Oil Service, Oil Tanker, Alt Energy and Coal shares are especially strong, rising more than 1.0%. Small-Caps are outperforming. The Transports are relatively strong again, rising +.98% to another new multi-year high. Tech shares are also strongly outperforming today. Despite a strong euro, Mideast saber-rattling, inflation worries, an equity rally and its technically oversold state, oil is just +.39% higher on the day. The 10-year yield is stable at 3.62% despite today's "hot" inflation readings and intensifying concerns over the US budget deficit. The US Muni CDS Index is dropping -5.2% to 168.07 bps, which is also a large positive. On the negative side, Telecom, Internet and Utility shares are lower on the day. Copper is falling -.88%. Shanghai copper inventories have surged +21.04% over the last 5 days. The Japan sovereign cds is rising +2.84% to 79.98 bps. The fact that oil and long-term rates are contained despite potential upside catalysts is surprising and a big positive. While tomorrow's core CPI will likely also exceed estimates, I suspect any morning equity weakness will be met with dip-buying once again, barring any additional Mideast flare-ups overnight. US equities remain extraordinarily resilient to any potential headwinds. I expect US stocks to trade mixed-to-higher into the close from current levels on earnings optimism, US fund inflows, stable long-term rates, stable energy prices, buyout speculation, technical buying and short-covering.

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Today's Headlines

Posted by Gary .....at 3:09 PM

Bloomberg:
  • Bahrain, Yemen, Libya Face Protests as Region's Unrest Spreads. Bahrainis took to the streets for a third day of pro-democracy rallies as Yemeni demonstrators and police clashed and the Associated Press said violence erupted during the first protests in Libya against Muammar Qaddafi. Bahrain’s interior minister, Sheikh Rashid bin Abdullah al- Khalifa, apologized for the killing of two protesters in clashes with security forces this week, saying an investigation is under way, the official Bahrain News Agency said. Hundreds gathered today at the funeral of a demonstrator who died yesterday. They demand democracy and the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa, a member of the Sunni Muslim royal family who has held the post for four decades.
  • Oil Climbs as Israel Says Iranian Warships Heading for Syria. Crude rose after Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said two Iranian gunboats are planning to move through the Suez Canal to Syria, spurring concern that Middle Eastern oil shipments will be disrupted. Oil climbed 0.8 percent after Lieberman called the move he expects later today a “provocation.”
  • U.S. Economy: Factory Production Increases, Housing Stagnates.
  • Portugal's Borrowing Costs Climb at 12-Month Bill Sale. Portugal’s borrowing costs rose at an auction of 1 billion euros ($1.35 billion) of 12-month bills as investors demanded greater yields to compensate for the risk of default. The securities due Feb. 17, 2012 were issued at an average yield of 3.987 percent, IGCP, the country’s debt management agency, said, compared with 3.71 percent at a previous auction on Feb. 2.
  • Liberty Mutual CEO Says U.S. Policymakers 'Debase the Dollar'. Liberty Mutual Holding Co., the second-largest policyholder-owned property-casualty insurer in the U.S., is expanding abroad and shortening the duration of bond holdings on concern that deficit spending and Federal Reserve policies may weaken the dollar. Liberty Mutual plans to add business in China, India and Latin America as policy sales in the U.S. decline.

Wall Street Journal:
  • Israel: Iran Sending Warships Through Suez Canal. Iran is sending two warships through the Suez Canal en route to Syria, Israel's foreign minister said Wednesday, calling the act a "provocation" that Israel cannot ignore. The Iranian plan described by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman would take the warships past Israel's coast. While it would pose no significant military threat to Israel, he said that such a close encounter between forces of the two countries had not occurred in many years.
MarketWatch:
  • U.S. Wholesale Prices Climb .8% in January. U.S. wholesale prices shot up again in January, largely owing to higher gasoline costs, the government reported Wednesday. The seasonally adjusted 0.8% increase in January follows a 0.9% gain in December and marks the seventh straight monthly increase, the Labor Department said. Core producer prices, which exclude the volatile food and energy categories, spiked 0.5%, marking the largest gain since October 2008.
CNBC.com:
Business Insider:
Zero Hedge:
Seeking Alpha:
  • Bernanke's Outrages Exposed. Interesting stuff in an FCIC interview with Ben Bernanke. Let's just do this one page at a time, starting right up front where we find this little tidbit on Page 7:
Benzinga:
  • Charlie Gasparino Reporting Nasdaq(NDAQ) Considering Teaming Up With The Intercontinental Exchange(ICE). FOX Business Network Senior Correspondent Charlie Gasparino reports that NASDAQ is “scrambling to respond” to the deal between the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and Deutsche Boerse. Gasparino said there are “serious discussions” internally at NASDAQ “about teaming up with ICE, the Intercontinental Exchange” in an effort to “make a competitive response” and avoid being “swept away” in the NYSE-Deutsche Boerse merger.
LA Times:
  • Disney(DIS) Raises Wholesale Price on Redbox and Netflix(NFLX). Amid calls from some on Wall Street to choke off the supply of newly released DVDs to discount movie rental services, Walt Disney Co. has quietly decided to hike its wholesale prices on new-release DVDs for Redbox and Netflix, according to people familiar with the matter.
Reuters:
  • ARM(ARMH) Sees Boost From High-End Smartphones. British chip designer ARM said its royalty revenues would be boosted by the speed of adoption of its newest multicore processors that are powering many of the smartphones unveiled in Barcelona. "We are not surprised by the speed of the roll-out," Chief Executive Warren East told Reuters in an interview at the Mobile World Congress trade fair. "As they have more functionality, we are giving more value to our customers, and we expect to be paid more."
  • Domestic US Stock Funds Best Week Since May '09 - ICI.
  • Abercrombie(ANF) to Boost Spending, Expand Global Reach. Teen retailer Abercrombie & Fitch Co posted a bigger-than-expected quarterly profit as discounts boosted traffic, and said it plans to almost double its capital expenditures this year as it ramps up international expansion.
  • Deere(DE) Q1 Profit Doubles; Stock Soars. Farm equipment maker Deere & Co reported a much higher-than-expected profit on Wednesday and raised its full-year forecast, as high food costs drove farm investment in new machinery, sending its shares to a record high in midday trading.
USA Today:
  • Prisoners Stole Millions From The IRS In 2009. Seemingly proving the adage that crime pays, even behind bars, prisoners in the three states received nearly $19 million in IRS refunds during 2009 after filing false or fraudulent tax returns, according to an IRS report to Congress that was included in a federal audit released in January.
DigiTimes:
CCTV:
  • Beijing will halt residential property sales for local residents who own two homes and non-local residents who have one.
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Bear Radar

Posted by Gary .....at 2:21 PM

Style Underperformer:
  • Large-Cap Value (+.42%)
Sector Underperformers:
  • 1) Utilities -.90% 2) Telecom -.62% 3) Internet -.36%
Stocks Falling on Unusual Volume:
  • BEAV, RLOC, RADS, SAPE, ROVI, PAAS, CTL, NYX, BPI, DCI, VSI, DHX, ONE and OMX
Stocks With Unusual Put Option Activity:
  • 1) SVNT 2) WMB 3) SPWRB 4) WFR 5) FDO
Stocks With Most Negative News Mentions:
  • 1) RAI 2) CSTR 3) PAA 4) ICON 5) OC
Charts:
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Bull Radar

Posted by Gary .....at 11:19 AM

Style Outperformer:
  • Small-Cap Value (+1.0%)
Sector Outperformers:
  • 1) Oil Service +1.92% 2) Computer Hardware +1.57% 3) Construction +1.55%
Stocks Rising on Unusual Volume:
  • DELL, WNR, DNR, DB, CS, SU, DFG, UFPT, PKG, FMX, GENZ, ELOS, PRAA, VCLK, KNXA, PFCB, IOSP, FRED, JDSU, NXPI, DLTR, HWAY, WPPGY, CENX, AMMD, TSLA, MERC, ECPG, UFPT, FDO, AAN, DG, NOR, PAG, OC, DF, SKH, ANF, CTB, WNR, GDOT, XEC, AGCO, USG, GT, AYR, APD, VLO, FTO, TSO, FTI and ROC
Stocks With Unusual Call Option Activity:
  • 1) FDO 2) DELL 3) CHS 4) CMCSA 5) DE
Stocks With Most Positive News Mentions:
  • 1) RAI 2) CMCSA 3) CSTR 4) GPS 5) ANF
Charts:
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Wednesday Watch

Posted by Gary .....at 12:45 AM

Evening Headlines
Bloomberg:
  • Egypt Generals Running Day Care Adds Profit Motive to Political Transition. The Egyptian military, which promises to steer the nation to a new democratic future after the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak, has its own economic interests to protect as well. The armed forces have a substantial stake in the civilian economy through a host of government-owned service and manufacturing companies, at least 14 of them under the auspices of the Ministry of Military Production. Their websites list product lines that include civilian goods. Military-run companies are in such businesses as janitorial services, household appliances, pest control and catering. El Nasr Company for Services and Maintenance, for instance, has 7,750 employees in such sectors as child care, automobile repair and hotel administration, according to its website. Other military companies produce small arms, tank shells and explosives -- as well as exercise equipment and fire engines. These companies add up to “a very large, unaccountable, non-transparent ‘Military Inc.,’” said Robert Springborg, a professor in the department of national security affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, and author of “Mubarak’s Egypt: Fragmentation of the Political Order.” The generals “will try to massage the new order so that it does not seek to impose civilian control on the armed forces,” he said. “It’s not just a question of preserving the institution of the Army. It’s a question of preserving the financial base of its members.”
  • Peltz's Trian Offers to Buy Discounter Family Dollar(FDO) for Up to $60 a Share. Nelson Peltz, the activist investor pushing for faster growth at Family Dollar Stores Inc., offered to acquire the company for as much as $7.6 billion as consumer spending picks up. Peltz’s Trian Group offered $55 to $60 a share, a 36 percent premium over today’s closing price, for the second- largest U.S. dollar store chain, according to a regulatory filing today.
  • Oil Trades Near 11-Week Low on Forecast of Gasoline Supply Gain. Oil traded near an 11-week low in New York after analysts forecast that gasoline supplies rose for a seventh week in the U.S., signaling a slow recovery in fuel demand in the world’s biggest crude-consuming nation. Futures slipped 0.6 percent yesterday after analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News estimated an Energy Department report today will show gasoline stockpiles climbed 1.85 million barrels in the seven days ended Feb. 11, matching the longest streak of gains since August. “Gasoline inventories here are very, very robust, and demand here is still very poor,” said Kyle Cooper, director of research for IAF Advisors in Houston. Brent and West Texas Intermediate are “divorced” because of near-record oil stockpiles at Cushing, the delivery point for the New York contract, he said. U.S. crude inventories probably rose for a fifth week in the seven days ended Feb. 11 as TransCanada Corp. completed an extension of a pipeline to Cushing, adding to the glut at the country’s biggest oil-trading hub, a Bloomberg News survey showed. TransCanada started deliveries to Cushing on Feb. 8 in the second phase of its Keystone pipeline project. Stockpiles at Cushing, Oklahoma, rose to the highest level since at least 2004 in the week ended Jan. 28.
  • House Republicans Target Consumer Bureau Funding in Budget Bill. U.S. House Republicans moved to cut the budget of the nascent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau by 40 percent under a temporary spending bill being considered this week. Republicans lawmakers, who took control of the House after the CFPB was created, put a provision in the so-called continuing resolution that would limit Federal Reserve transfers to $80 million. That would be a sharp cut from the $134 million the bureau would get in President Barack Obama’s 2011 budget.
  • Air Products(APD) Drops Airgas Bid After Court Loss. Air Products & Chemicals Inc. dropped its $5.9 billion hostile bid for Airgas Inc. after a Delaware judge upheld the packaged-gas supplier’s main anti- takeover defense.
  • China Buying North Korean Iron Best Birthday Gift for Kim. North Korean leader Kim Jong Il turns 69 today, his country beset by international sanctions, livestock disease and the aftermath of floods. A rebound in trade with China may be the best birthday present he gets. North Korea’s exports to China jumped 51 percent to $1.2 billion last year, led by iron ore, coal and copper, Chinese government data show. China’s sales to its ally rose 21 percent to $2.3 billion from a year earlier, with supplies of wheat and oil helping ease chronic shortages of fuel and food. Two-way trade fell 4 percent in 2009, when the United Nations tightened sanctions after Kim’s regime carried out a second nuclear test. The revival in commerce contrasts with U.S. efforts to isolate North Korea after a year in which 50 South Koreans died in attacks that roiled currency and debt markets.
  • Goldman Sachs(GS) Said to Close Fixed-Income Prop-Trading Group. Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the U.S. bank that relies on fixed-income trading for the largest portion of its revenue, will shut its Global Macro Proprietary Trading desk, a person familiar with the decision said. The eight-person desk, which trades currencies and stocks as well as products tied to interest rates and other fixed- income markets, will close in the days ahead, said the person, who declined to be named because the decision wasn’t public.
  • China's consumer-price index may understate inflation, with a separate measure near 7% underscoring the case for higher interest rates, according to Nomura Holdings Inc. The gross domestic product deflator, calculated by subtracting real growth from nominal levels of expansion, climbed 6.76% in the final quarter of 2010, the fastest pace in two years and 2 percentage points above the consumer price index.
    The government should be concerned that inflation which has been largely driven by food costs is becoming more broad-based, said Rob Subbaraman, chief economist for Asia excluding Japan at Nomura in Hong Kong.
Wall Street Journal:
  • Rebellion Seethes in Gulf. Protester Killed in Bahrain; Skirmishes in Yemen; Call for Rebel Executions in Iran. The Middle East's wave of popular revolts helped spur the largest street rebellion in years in a Persian Gulf monarchy, and the first to pit a Shiite Muslim majority against Sunni rulers—heightening the dilemma for the U.S. as it struggles to pursue its interests in the region.
  • Chicago Population Sinks to 1920 Level. A larger-than-expected exodus over the past 10 years reduced the population of Chicago to a level not seen in near a century. The U.S. Census Bureau reported Tuesday that during the decade ended in 2010, Chicago's population fell 6.9% to 2,695,598 people, fewer than the 2.7 million reported back in 1920. The explosive growth of suburbs far outside Chicago produced huge gains in neighboring counties. Kane County grew by 27.5%, Will County by nearly 35% and Lake County by 9.2%, while DuPage grew a more modest 1.4%. This population shift to traditionally conservative counties could alter the balance of power in both the state house and the Illinois congressional delegation.
  • Banks Go Straight to Public Borrowers. Banks are setting aside billions of dollars to do something that until now was rarely heard of: making big loans to cities, states, schools and other public borrowers that otherwise might have turned to the bond market. Banks are aggressively courting municipal borrowers with conventional loans for capital projects. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.(JPM) is devoting billions of dollars to direct loans this year to both refinance deals and for new projects, according to a bank official. Last year, the bank made a few hundred million dollars of direct loans to municipalities. Now, the bank would consider making a single loan for hundreds of millions of dollars, the official said. It also is dispatching teams to explain the concept to wary public borrowers. Citibank(C) also is courting municipal borrowers with direct loans, according to several bond issuers. "This used to be unheard of," says Eric Friedland, managing director of public finance at Fitch Ratings, noting that in the past, banks would occasionally loan a municipality less than $1 million to finance projects too small for a bond offering. For bigger loans, they would form a syndicate with other lenders. It remains to be seen what land mines may be lurking for lenders and borrowers. Some municipalities are going through significant struggles, raising questions about whether they will prove good credits. And direct loans are less liquid, meaning banks can't sell them as easily as bonds.
  • Senate OKs Extension of Key Patriot Act Provisions.
  • U.S. Had Year of Warnings Over Egypt. As Critics Pointed to Signs of Unrest, White House Gave a Muted Rebuke.
  • Grand Jury Investigates Karzai Brother. U.S. Federal Probe Risks Worsening Relations With the Afghan President; Mahmood Karzai Hires a Washington Lawyer.
  • State Plans Anger Unions. Union leaders say overhauls of rules for public- and private-sector unions being considered in Wisconsin, Ohio and about a dozen other states threaten to accelerate the decline in membership nationwide and hurt organized labor's finances and political clout.
  • Egypt and Iran. Why Tehran's thugs will be harder to depose than Hosni Mubarak. Iran's Green movement, the squelched democratic hope of 2009, isn't dead after all. Wearing green scarves and chanting "Death to the dictator!", tens of thousands turned out in Tehran, Shiraz and other Iranian cities Monday to demand political change. The size of the protests surprised and embarrassed the regime, but it's important to understand why revolution will be harder than in Egypt and Tunisia.
CNBC:
MarketWatch:
  • Diamondback Faces at Least $1 Billion in Redemption Requests. Investors in hedge fund Diamondback Capital Management LLC, which is struggling with fallout from an insider-trading investigation, have asked to pull $1 billion in capital out of the firm, a person familiar with the situation said Tuesday. The amount isn't final, and the tally could run higher as investors may put in redemption requests before the deadline later Tuesday.
  • China Central-Bank Adviser Urges More Tightening. The People's Bank of China should lift interest rates and boost the ratio of funds banks must aside as reserves in an effort to contain inflation, a central-bank adviser said, according to a report Wednesday in the China Securities Journal.
  • China Banks End First-Home Loan Discount. Many banks in the Chinese cities of Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen have stopped offering discounts on mortgage loans for first-time home buyers, the National Business Daily reported Tuesday, citing unnamed bank staff.
Business Insider:
Zero Hedge:
New York Times:
  • SAC Capital's Cohen Opens Up. Steven A. Cohen likes Green Mountain Coffee(GMCR). The founder of SAC Capital Advisers, the $12 billion hedge fund in Stamford, Conn., sat for a rare wide-ranging interview with Paul Tudor Jones, another hedge fund manager, where he discussed his favorite stocks and a whole lot more.
  • From Prison, Madoff Says Banks 'Had to Know' of Fraud. In his first interview for publication since his arrest in December 2008, Mr. Madoff — looking noticeably thinner and rumpled in khaki prison garb — maintained that family members knew nothing about his crimes. But during a private two-hour interview in a visitor room here on Tuesday, and in earlier e-mail exchanges, he asserted that unidentified banks and hedge funds were somehow “complicit” in his elaborate fraud, an about-face from earlier claims that he was the only person involved in the fraud.
Forbes:
  • Bernanke Put Allows JPMorgan(JPM) to Post Profits on 96.9% of 2010 Trading Days. A scary figure was revealed at J.P. Morgan’s investor day presentation on Tuesday: the bank had a perfect trading record for the second half of 2010 and only lost money on 8 days out of 260 possible trading days for the full year. The New York-based bank made $76 million per day through its trading desks, 9.5% less than the average $84 million it made in 2009, a year when it recorded losses on 42 trading days. J.P. Morgan’s results, echoed by peers like Bank of America(BAC), Goldman Sachs(GS), and Citi(C), should send a chill down investors’ spines as large Wall Street banks capitalize on the so-called Bernanke-put.
  • Apple(AAPL): Cheaper iPhone Could Expand Addressable Market By 6x.
CNN Money:
  • Leaf and Prius Stomp the Volt on Greenest Car List.
  • Emerging Markets: $13 Billion Exodus. In a sharp reversal of last year's trend, investors have been pulling money out of emerging market funds and piling into large-cap stocks in more developed economies. Investors have shifted more than $13 billion out of emerging market funds in the last three weeks alone, according to EPFR Global, which tracks fund flows and asset allocation data for financial institutions around the world. That includes $7 billion in the week ended Feb. 3, the biggest weekly outflow in three years. The money is flowing out of equity funds focused on countries such as Brazil, Russia, India and China. While the pace of outflows slowed last week, a total of $6.5 billion has come out of these funds so far this year.
CBS News:
  • CBS News' Lara Logan Sexually Assaulted During Egypt Protests. On Friday, Feb. 11, the day Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stepped down, CBS chief foreign correspondent Lara Logan was covering the jubilation in Tahrir Square for a "60 Minutes" story when she and her team and their security were surrounded by a dangerous element amidst the celebration. It was a mob of more than 200 people whipped into frenzy. In the crush of the mob, she was separated from her crew. She was surrounded and suffered a brutal and sustained sexual assault and beating before being saved by a group of women and an estimated 20 Egyptian soldiers. She reconnected with the CBS team, returned to her hotel and returned to the United States on the first flight the next morning. She is currently in the hospital recovering.
The Trentonian:
LA Times:
USA Today:
  • Burger Chain Stacked Puts iPads on Tables to Take Orders.
  • Spiraling Inflation Threatens China's Stability. Inflation is dangerous for China's leaders because it erodes economic gains that underpin the Communist Party's claim to power. And it hits the poor majority hardest in a society where millions of families spend up to half their incomes on food. That is politically awkward as Beijing tries to enforce stability ahead of a once-a-generation handover of power next year to younger Communist Party leaders. Beijing has tried to mollify the public by paying food subsidies to poor families, holding down prices in university cafeterias and ordering local leaders to see that vegetable markets have adequate supplies. It has tried to diffuse public frustration by claiming that hoarding and price-fixing by speculators is partly to blame. But analysts say Beijing also failed to act quickly enough to head off inflation after it deflected the 2008 crisis by flooding the economy with stimulus money and bank lending. The economic rebound gave consumers more money to spend and banks are pumping out loans despite orders to curb credit. The headline inflation numbers hide even sharper increases in key items. In January, the price of fresh fruit soared more than a third from year earlier, while eggs rose 20%, the National Bureau of Statistics reported. At the Xinya Shopping Center, a supermarket on Beijing's east side, the price of sugar is up 80% over a year earlier, while high-quality rice costs 65% more, according to manager Wang Yongyi. "Since the second half of last year, we have been busily changing the price tags to mark the prices up," Wang said. "It seems that the more control we had from the government, the higher prices rise." Inflation could also spill over into Chinese export prices. That might raise costs for Western consumers but also could help countries such as Vietnam and India compete with China as suppliers of clothing, furniture and other low-cost goods. Global Sources, a company that connects Chinese suppliers with foreign customers, said this week that a survey of 232 Chinese companies found 74% of them raised prices last year — some by up to 20% — due to higher costs for materials and components. "China is steadily moving away from being the world's low-cost source of various products," the company said in a report released this week. A separate Global Sources survey of 385 foreign buyers last month found 31% were increasing purchases from Vietnam due to higher Chinese prices. "I hope the government can rein in the food price rises this year, or else people's lives will be greatly hurt," said Wang, the supermarket manager. "No matter how high prices go, people need to eat anyway, right?"
  • 'Kill Switch' Internet Bill Alarms Privacy Experts. A raging debate over new legislation, and its impact on the Internet, has tongues wagging and fingers pointing from Silicon Valley to Washington, D.C. Just as the Egyptian government recently forced the Internet to go dark, U.S. officials could flip the switch if the Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset legislation becomes law, say its critics.
Reuters:
  • US Gasoline Demand Down 3% - MasterCard(MA). U.S retail gasoline demand has fallen for a second consecutive week, pressured by higher retail prices, MasterCard Advisors' SpendingPulse report showed on Tuesday. Average gasoline demand in the week to Feb. 11 dropped 3 percent from the previous week to 8.46 million barrels per day. Retail gasoline prices rose 3 cents last week to $3.13 per gallon, their first gain in four weeks. Last week's prices were up 19.5 percent from a year earlier and at their highest since October 2008, MasterCard said.
  • Hedge Fund D.E. Shaw Cuts Fees - Source. D.E. Shaw & Co., one of the world's biggest and priciest hedge fund firms, has told investors that it plans to charge them less, an investor with the firm said on Tuesday. The New York-based firm, which oversees roughly $19 billion in assets, plans to lower its fees to a 2.5 percent management fee and a 25 percent performance fee, said the person, who was not permitted to speak about the matter publicly. Previously, the firm charged a 3 percent management fee plus a 30 percent performance fee. Most managers charge investors less, asking for a 2 percent management fee and a 20 percent performance fee.
  • North American Potash(POT) Inventories Tighten Further.
Telegraph:
  • BHP Billiton(BHP) Unveils $10 Billion Buyback as Profits Surge 72%. Net income was $10.5bn, or 188.6 cents a share, in the six months to the end of December, up from $6.1bn, or 109.8 cents a share, a year earlier, Melbourne-based BHP said on Tuesday night. That compares with the $10.2bn median estimate of nine analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. With the $10bn buyback, chief executive Marius Kloppers joins his counterpart at Rio Tinto, Tom Albanese, in boosting shareholder returns as commodity prices rise. BHP said today it’s “cautiously optimistic” on the short-term outlook for the global economy.
Beijing Daily:
  • Beijing's Communist Party approved local property control measures, citing a party meeting. The city will "strictly" implement loan and tax policies for homes.
Shanghai Securities News:
  • China Banking Regulatory Commission issued a notice, warning about the risks in property loans and local financing vehicles. Chinese banks should prevent loans flowing into speculative property market investment and land purchases, citing the notice.
Evening Recommendations
Citigroup:
  • Reiterated Buy on (MAS), target $18.
  • Reiterated Buy on (MMC), boosted target to $35.
Morgan Keegan:
  • Rated (SLB), (NE), (HAL), (NOV) and (CAM) Outperform.
Night Trading
  • Asian equity indices are -.25% to +.50% on average.
  • Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 108.50 +1.0 basis point.
  • Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 121.50 + basis point.
  • S&P 500 futures +.35%.
  • NASDAQ 100 futures +.26%.
Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate
  • (CVC)/.41
  • (DVN)/1.38
  • (OC)/.18
  • (DF)/.14
  • (GENZ)/.83
  • (OMX)/.10
  • (WCG)/.52
  • (DE)/.99
  • (CMCSA)/.32
  • (ANF)/1.32
  • (PFCB)/.57
  • (ITRI)/1.06
  • (NVDA)/.16
  • (ESRX)/.70
  • (CLF)/2.22
  • (NTAP)/.50
  • (SNPS)/.40
Economic Releases
8:30 am EST
  • Housing Starts for January are estimated to rise to 539K versus 529K in December.
  • Building Permits for January are estimated to fall to 559K versus 635K in December.
  • The Producer Price Index for January is estimated to rise +.8% versus a +1.1% gain in December.
  • The PPI Ex Food & Energy for January is estimated to rise +.2% versus a +.2% gain in December.
9:15 am EST
  • Industrial Production for January is estimated to rise +.5% versus a +.8% gain in December.
  • Capacity Utilization for January is estimated to rise to 76.3% versus 76.0% in December.
10:30 am EST
  • Bloomberg consensus estimates call for a weekly crude oil inventory build of 2,000,000 barrels versus a +1,898,000 barrel gain the prior week. Distillate supplies are expected to fall by -400,000 barrels versus a +288,000 barrel gain the prior week. Gasoline inventories are estimated to rise by +1,850,000 barrels versus a +4,663,000 barrel increase the prior week. Finally, Refinery Utilization is estimated unch. versus a +.2% gain the prior week.
2:00 pm EST
  • Minutes of FOMC Meeting.
Upcoming Splits
  • (SFUN) 4-for-1
Other Potential Market Movers
  • The weekly MBA mortgage applications report, BB&T Transports Conference, Leerink Swann Therapeutics Conference and the Sterne Agee Financial Institutions Investor Conference could also impact trading today.
BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly higher, boosted by technology and automaker shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open modestly higher and to weaken into the afternoon, finishing mixed. The Portfolio is 75% net long heading into the day.
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