Bull Radar

Style Outperformer:

• Mid-Cap Growth (+1.90%)

Sector Outperformers:

• 1) Oil Service +2.80% 2) Networking +2.20% 3) Software +2.15%

Stocks Rising on Unusual Volume:

• ARUN, MCRS, DLLR, CIG, CPL, PANL, PNRA, MORN, ASMI, FWRD, MWIV, ULTI, SNDK, UTHR, COHR, EEFT, ACIW, MYL, JKHY, ERTS, RDEA, SNHY, JKH, TIF, NX, SIG, KUB, NVO, WSH, P, SPW, AOL, PSS and DY
  

Stocks With Unusual Call Option Activity:

• 1) CAG 2) KWK 3) XHB 4) BBT 5) AMT
  

Stocks With Most Positive News Mentions:

• 1) MCRS 2) KBR 3) MO 4) NE 5) ARUN
  

Charts:

• ETFs Rising on Unusual Volume
• Stocks Rising on Unusual Volume
  

Friday Watch

Evening Headlines

Bloomberg:

• Japan's Kan Poised to Resign as Bills Pass. Japan’s parliament passed two pieces of legislation that Prime Minister Naoto Kan said were conditions for him to resign as early today, setting up a succession battle that will play out by early next week.
  
• Airlines Scrub 180 Flights Before Hurricane Irene U.S. Landfall. American Airlines, JetBlue Airways Corp. and other large carriers scrubbed about 180 flights ahead of Hurricane Irene’s U.S. landfall and waived rebooking penalties to allow passengers to change flights. Cancellations totaled about 154 at AMR Corp.’s American and its American Eagle regional unit near the Caribbean and Bahamas, said Ed Martelle, a spokesman. JetBlue reported dropping a dozen flights, US Airways Group Inc. had eight, Delta Air Lines Inc. had four and United Continental Holdings Inc. had one.
  
• Syria Forces Kill 25 Protesters in Past Two Days. Syrian security forces have killed at least 25 protesters in the past two days as activists and opposition groups prepare for a conference aimed at presenting a united front against President Bashar al-Assad’s rule. At least 13 anti-government demonstrators were shot dead yesterday in the central city of Homs, the eastern town of Deir al-Zour and the suburbs of the capital, Damascus, Mahmoud Merhi, head of the Arab Organization for Human Rights, said by phone. At least 12 people were killed on Aug. 23 across the Hama governorate, Homs and the northern province of Idlib, he said.
• U.S. May Snap Up Qaddafi's Missiles in Mali Black Market to Soak Up Supply. The fall of Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi has touched off a race to secure his arsenal of portable, terror-ready weapons such as shoulder-fired anti- aircraft missiles, and part of the solution may be for the U.S. and allies to go out and buy them. There is evidence that a small number of Soviet-made SA-7 anti-aircraft missiles from Qaddafi’s arsenal have reached the black market in Mali, where al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb is active, according to two U.S. government officials not authorized to speak on the record. The disintegration of Qaddafi’s four-decade dictatorship has created a business opportunity for looters trafficking in the war-stricken country’s missiles, which would enable terrorists to attack military or civilian aircraft.
• For Texas 'Miracle,' Cut the Cost of Business: Brian Barry. Unemployment is high across the U.S., but some states are better than others at creating jobs. Texas Governor Rick Perry cast a spotlight on this when he entered the presidential race. His fast-growing state accounts for as much as half of all net U.S. jobs since mid-2009. Texas is part of a broader pattern, from which all states can learn. Research shows that states keeping costs low for business have enjoyed better job growth during the past couple of decades. The low costs appear to be more important than other advantages often associated with higher spending, including infrastructure and an appealing quality of life. Those findings emerge in a recent paper by Jed Kolko and Marisol Cuellar Mejia of the Public Policy Institute of California, along with David Neumark of the University of California at Irvine. The researchers compared states by digging into almost a dozen indexes that rank business- climate attractiveness.
• UN Authorizes U.S. to Release $1.5 Billion to Libyan Rebels. The United Nations Security Council today authorized the Obama administration to release $1.5 billion in frozen Libya assets to help the rebels' National Transitional Council deliver aid and services. The action followed approval by South Africa, a Security Council member that held up the release out of concern that the decision would signify recognition of the NTC as the government of Libya.
• Fed Pledge Inflates Hong Kong's Misery With Currency Peg: Chart of the Day. A U.S. pledge to keep interest rates at record lows through mid-2013 is no boon for Hong Kong, where a “misery index” has climbed the most in the world because of inflation fueled by cheap funding. The gauge, which sums the jobless rate and the annual increase in consumer prices, jumped 570 basis points in the 12 months through July to the highest level in more than 15 years. It was the biggest gain of 56 countries tracked by Bloomberg. “Inflation in the city will continue to accelerate because of the Fed’s pledge to keep rates low,” said Raymond Yeung, a senior economist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. in Hong Kong. “This will only heighten politicians’ demands for a change to the currency peg.” Yeung says a faster pace of gains by the yuan will also fuel inflation in the city.
• Short Sellers May Spend Another Month on European Stock Market Sidelines. Investors may face another month of short-selling curbs in Europe after French, Italian and Spanish financial regulators extended temporary bans introduced this month in a bid to stem market volatility. Spain and Italy extended their bans through Sept. 30, regulators in both countries said in a statement. France’s Autorite des Marches Financiers said its ban could last as long as Nov. 11. The regulators all said they might lift the bans on short selling of financial stocks when the market stabilizes. The ban didn’t prevent an 8 percent drop in European bank stocks since it was imposed on Aug. 12 after shares of lenders including Societe Generale SA hit their lowest levels since the credit crisis of 2008.

Wall Street Journal:

• Bailout for Greece Falters Over Demand for Collateral. Euro-zone policy makers on Thursday appeared no nearer to settling a dispute over Finland's collateral demands in exchange for participating in a €110 billion ($158.6 billion) bailout for Greece, raising concerns that the Mediterranean nation may default. Markets have grown more worried about the potential for a Greek debt default amid an apparent lack of progress in resolving the collateral issue this week. Finland, meanwhile, shows no sign of backing down.
  
• At Least 53 Killed in Mexico Casino. In what Mexican officials have called an "act of terror," a half dozen gunmen burst into a casino in Mexico's industrial capital of Monterrey Thursday, sprayed the place with gasoline, and started a fire in the bingo section, killing at least 53 people. Speaking to Monterrey's leading newspaper El Norte, Nuevo León Gov. Rodrigo Medina said that at least 53 people had been killed in the attack, making it the bloodiest attack suffered by this prosperous city, which has been rocked by spiraling drug violence in the last year. Monterrey is the capital of Nuevo Leon state.

MarketWatch:

• CME(CME) Cuts Margin Requirements on Crude-Oil Futures.

CNBC:

• China's Hu Tells Sarkozy Concerned About Euro. China hopes that Europe will take steps to protect its investments there, President Hu Jintao told the French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday, nonetheless voicing confidence in the euro and vowing to keep investing in it.
• Chance of Recession Is as High as 80%: Study. A plunge in recent economic data puts the probability of a double-dip recession above 80 percent, according to modeling by Bank of America Merrill Lynch released Wednesday.
• JPMorgan(JPM) to Pay $88 Million for Violating US Sanctions. JPMorgan Chase has agreed to pay $88.3 million to settle potential civil liability for apparent violations of a wide range of U.S. sanctions, the U.S. Treasury department announced Thursday.

Business Insider:

• Fed's Hoenig Says "Fed Can't Do It All, No Reason for Operation Twist to Work". Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke ought to listen to common sense from Kansas City President Thomas Hoenig who says Focus Should Shift to Fixing U.S. Fiscal Woes.
• The Steaming Pile of Assets That Could Take Down Bank of America(BAC) - Blodget Explains All. (podcast)
• Why Is The White House Defending The Banks From Investigations? Via Outside the Beltway, I see that the administration is pressing New York's attorney general to drop its investigation into dodgy foreclosure practices and settle with the banks. Doug Mataconis, who wrote the post, says, "I'm sure the large amount of donations coming from the financial sector into the coffers of the Democratic National Committee and Obama For America have nothing to do with this pressure. I also believe the guy who tells me he has a bridge in Brooklyn to sell me."

Zero Hedge:

• HFT Quote Stuffing Market Manipulation Caught In The Act.
• The European Dollar Funding Crunch Is Back: Fed Does Another $500 Million In USD Swaps This Time With The ECB.
  

IBD:

• Aircraft Parts Maker TransDigm Group(TDG) Takes Off On Wings Of Travel.

NY Times:

• Big Shoes at Apple(AAPL), But Maybe Not Unfillable.

Stormpulse:

• Hurricane Irene Tracking Map.

CNN:

• 9/11 Ceremony Won't Include Religious Leaders or Formal Prayers. As the city of New York prepares to remember the 10th anniversary of 9/11, religious leaders are raising concerns over the lack of clergy participating in the anniversary events. "Utterly disappointed and surprised," Fernado Cabrera a New York City councilman and the pastor of New Life Outreach International church in the Bronx, said over the decision not to include any clergy in the ceremony. "There's certain things that government cannot do, and answering questions of meaning of 'Why are we going through this?' and 'Where am I going to get strength from?' - those are existential questions that can only be answered from a spiritual aspect," Cabrera said. "I'm telling you I saw it first hand, the power of prayer," he added of his time at ground zero on September 11, 2001. Cabrera said he reached out to the mayor's office and was told there would be no prayer in this year's ceremony. He has started a petition on Facebook to change that.
• Halliburton(HAL) Adding 11,000 Jobs, Mostly in North Dakota.
  

MobileBeat:

• Tampa Bay Buccaneers Replace Playbooks with iPads.

CBSNews:

• Former Bush Spokeswoman: Rick Perry Should "distance himself" from George W. Bush. Dana Perino, who was White House Press Secretary under President George W. Bush, said on Fox News Thursday that Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry should "distance himself" from her former boss. "Rick Perry is smart to distance himself from George W. Bush if he wants to win the Republican nomination and, eventually, the presidency," Perino said.

Neal Boortz:

• Illinois Increases Taxes, Loses Jobs. How many times have I told you that taxes influence behavior? People want to keep more of what they earn. It’s as simple as that. So it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure this one out. Since the official start of the “recovery,” Illinois employers were moderately adding jobs for months. That all stopped in January 2011. Since January, Illinois started losing jobs. Big time. In fact, in July 2011, Illinois lost more jobs than any other state in the nation. It lost 24,900 non-farm payroll jobs in July as its unemployment rate climbed for the third straight month to 9.5%. So Illinois was steadily adding jobs and then .. bam! .. it is losing more jobs than any other state in the nation. What happened? Tax increases.

Politico:

• AFL-CIO Head: Labor to Ditch Democrats. The growing rift between labor and their Democratic allies was on full display Thursday, as AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka told reporters that labor groups are planning to scale back their involvement with the Democratic Party in advance of the 2012 elections. Going forward, Trumka said, the labor movement will build up its own political structures and organizations rather than contribute to and depend on the Democratic Party’s political operation.

Reuters:

• Spain Government, PP Agree to Deficit Limit in Constitution. The Spanish government said on Friday it had reached an agreement with the main opposition People's Party over plans to reform the constitution and establish limits for the public deficit and debt. The amendment to the constitution will be made by implementing a law which will include a cap on the country's deficit and debt. The law will have to be approved before June 30, 2012, the government said in a statement early on Friday morning.
• Brevan Howard Profits From Market Turmoil - FT. Brevan Howard, one of the Europe's biggest and most successful hedge fund managers, has made close to $1.5 billion over the past three weeks on the back of turmoil in the global markets, the Financial Times reported on Friday.
• Investors Return to US Equity Funds - Lipper.
• Pandora Media(P) Revenue Beats on Strong Ad Sales. Online radio service Pandora Media Inc reported results that beat expectations on strong advertising sales in its fiscal second quarter. Pandora shares rose 5.9 percent to $13.20 in after-hours trading following the earnings report on Thursday.
• Micros Systems(MCRS) Q4 Tops Street. Micros Systems Inc , which provides information systems to the hospitality industry, posted quarterly results ahead of market estimates, helped by double-digit revenue growth in its services business.Shares of the Columbia, Maryland-based company, which have lost 18 percent of their value over the last one month, were up 4 percent in trading after the bell.
• Bank of America(BAC) Gives Buffett a $3 Billion Gift. When Bank of America Corp agreed to sell $5 billion of preferred shares to Warren Buffett, it gave the Oracle of Omaha a $3 billion gift with the deal. The 700 million warrants attached to the preferred share sale were worth $3.17 billion when the deal was crafted, said Linus Wilson, an assistant professor of finance at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
• OmniVision(OVTI) Sees Q2 Below Estimates, Shares Dive. OmniVision Technologies Inc forecast second-quarter results well below estimates, hinting at a loss of market share in its key smartphone image sensor business, sending its shares down 25 percent in extended trade.

Telegraph:

• Greece Forced to Tap Emergency Fund. Greece has been forced to activate an obscure emergency fund for its banks because they are running short of collateral that is acceptable to the European Central Bank (ECB). In a move described as the "last stand for Greek banks", the embattled country's central bank activated Emergency Liquidity Assistance (ELA) for the first time on Wednesday night. Raoul Ruparel of Open Europe told The Telegraph: "The activation of the so-called ELA looks to be the last stand for Greek banks and suggests they are running alarmingly short of quality collateral usually used to obtain funding." He added: "This kicks off another huge round of nearly worthless assets being shifted from the books of private banks onto books backed by taxpayers. Combined with the purchases of Spanish and Italian bonds, the already questionable balance sheet of the euro system is looking increasingly risky.

Xinhua:

• The yuan is not ready for rapid appreciation because of the "immaturity" of the Chinese economy, citing Nobel laureate Myron Scholes in an interview. The Asian country still depends on exports as consumption is too low to support the economy, Scholes said.

Financial News:

• China should urge the U.S. government to reduce its fiscal deficit as part of measures to protect China's foreign-exchange reserves, citing Wang Tianlong, a researcher at the China Center For International Economic Exchanges. China should accelerate the resolution of local government debt risks to prevent "concentrated outbreaks" of such risks, the report said, citing Wang.

Evening Recommendations
Citigroup:

• Reiterated Buy on (P), target $25.

ThinkEquity:

• Rated (BRCM) Buy, target $40.
  

Night Trading

• Asian equity indices are -1.25% to +.25% on average.
• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 163.0 -2.0 basis points.
  
• Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 152.75 -4.25 basis points.
• FTSE-100 futures +.11%.
  
• S&P 500 futures +.57%.
  
• NASDAQ 100 futures +.59%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate

• (TIF)/.70

Economic Releases
8:30 am EST

• 2Q GDP is estimated to rise +1.1% versus a prior estimate of a +1.3% gain.
• 2Q Personal Consumption is estimated to rise +.2% versus a prior estimate of a +.1% gain.
• 2Q GDP Price Index is estimated to rise +2.3% versus a prior estimate of a +2,3% gain.
• 2Q Core PCE is estimated to rise +2.1% versus a prior estimate of a +2.1% increase.

9:55 am EST

• Final Univ. of Mich. Consumer Confidence for August is estimated to rise to 55.8 versus a prior estimated of 54.9.

Upcoming Splits

• (CLW) 2-for-1
  

Other Potential Market Movers

• Fed Chairman Bernanke's speech could also impact trading today.
  

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly lower, weighed down by industrial and real estate 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.

Stocks Falling into Final Hour on Rising Eurozone Debt Angst, Tech Sector Weakness, Global Growth Worries, Emerging Markets Inflation Fears

Broad Market Tone:

• Advance/Decline Line: Substantially Lower
  
• Sector Performance: Almost Every Sector Declining
  
• Volume: Slightly Below Average
  
• Market Leading Stocks: Performing In Line
  

Equity Investor Angst:

• VIX 38.31 +8.11%
  
• ISE Sentiment Index 89.0 -8.25%
  
• Total Put/Call 1.40 +19.66%
  
• NYSE Arms 1.03 +56.34%
  

Credit Investor Angst:

• North American Investment Grade CDS Index 124.0 -2.70%
  
• European Financial Sector CDS Index 238.32 -1.73%
  
• Western Europe Sovereign Debt CDS Index 301.50 +1.50%
  
• Emerging Market CDS Index 299.46 -1.32%
  
• 2-Year Swap Spread 30.0 +1 bp
  
• TED Spread 32.0 +1 bp
  

Economic Gauges:

• 3-Month T-Bill Yield .00% unch.
  
• Yield Curve 202.0 -2 bps
  
• China Import Iron Ore Spot $178.30/Metric Tonne +.11%
  
• Citi US Economic Surprise Index -68.70 +1.0 point
  
• 10-Year TIPS Spread 2.07% +6 bps
  

Overseas Futures:

• Nikkei Futures: Indicating -40 open in Japan
• DAX Futures: Indicating -40 open in Germany

Portfolio:

• Lower: On losses in my Tech, Medical, Biotech and Retail sector longs
  
• Disclosed Trades: Added (IWM)/(QQQ) hedges and added to my (EEM) short, then covered some of them
  
• Market Exposure: Moved to 75% Net Long

BOTTOM LINE: Today's overall market action is very bearish, as the S&P 500 falls meaningfully despite the Buffett/(BAC) deal, rally in (AAPL) shares off the lows, stock gains in Asia overnight and ahead of Bernanke's speech tomorrow. On the positive side, Coal and Homebuilding shares are especially strong, rising over 1.0% on the day. (XLF) has traded very well throughout the day again. Copper is gaining +2.12% and Lumber is rising +.43%. The Japan sovereign cds is falling -3.77% to 108.59 bps and the Belgium sovereign cds is declining -4.9% to 239.83 bps. On the negative side, Energy, Steel, Software, Disk Drive, Networking, Wireless, Biotech, Drug, Hospital, HMO, Restaurant, Gaming, Education, Airline and Tobacco shares are especially weak, falling more than -1.75%. Small-caps are underperforming. Tech shares have lagged throughout the day again. Gold is up +.19%. Oil and food are flat despite stock losses. Rice is still near a multi-year high, rising +26.5% in about 8 weeks. The US price for a gallon of gas is +.01/gallon today to $3.58/gallon. It is up .44/gallon in about 7 months. The Greece sovereign cds is rising +3.50% to 2,302.67 bps, the France sovereign cds is climbing +1.16% to 165.83 bps, the Portugal sovereign cds is gaining +.32% to 1,040.56 bps and the Italy sovereign cds is gaining +.24% to 377.33 bps. The TED spread is at the highest since July 2010. The Eurozone Financial Sector CDS Index is still very near it recent all-time high. The Greece sovereign cds has soared +777 bps since July 22. The Citi Eurozone Economic Surprise Index has plunged -109 points in about 3 weeks to -102.90. Despite gains in most of the rest of Asia overnight, India equities fell another -.85%. They are now down -21.3% ytd and right back to their lows hit 4 days ago. The abrupt plunge in German stocks this morning triggered US equity weakness. Comments out of Germany that the EFSF is currently large enough may have been one of the main catalysts. Germany's DAX is now down -19.2% ytd and continues to trade very poorly. The ongoing rise in key cds remains a large negative. The AAII % Bulls rose to 36.44 this week, while the % Bears rose to 40.96, which is a negative given the current macro backdrop. S&P 500 forward earnings estimates are still at record levels despite the recent sharp deceleration in global economic activity, which could lead to a significant increase in negative earnings pre-announcements over the coming weeks. It is a big negative that the relative strength in (XLF) today has not helped the broad market at all. The fact that the Naz is near its lows(-45) with market leader (AAPL) rallying +17 points off its pre-opening low is also a big negative. I still believe (AAPL) will outperform the market substantially over the intermediate/long-term and would add to my long position again on any extreme market-related weakness in the shares. I expect US stocks to trade modestly lower into the close from current levels on rising eurozone debt angst, tech sector pessimism, global growth worries, more shorting, technical selling and emerging market inflation fears.

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:

• Stocks Fall After Selling Deluge in Germany. Stocks fell after Germany’s DAX Index (DAX) sank amid concern regulators in the European nation may impose more restrictions on short selling. The dollar, Treasuries and Bank of America Corp.’s shares rallied. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index dropped 1.6 percent at 12:36 p.m. in New York. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index lost 1.2 percent after rising as much as 1.1 percent. The DAX plunged 4 percent in about 15 minutes before ending the day with a 1.7 percent retreat. Investors bet Germany would ban short selling, said Ryan Larson, head of U.S. equity trading at RBC Global Asset Management Inc. in Chicago. Germany’s Finance Ministry said the speculation was incorrect. After European markets closed, French, Italian and Spanish stock-market regulators decided to extend temporary bans on short selling introduced this month. U.S. equities slumped after American jobless claims increased.
• Jobless Claims in U.S. Rise to 417,000. Claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week, pushed up for a second time by a labor dispute at Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) Jobless claims climbed by 5,000 to 417,000 in the week ended Aug. 20, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News projected a drop in claims to 405,000, according to the median forecast. Today’s data showed the four-week moving average, a less- volatile measure than the weekly figures, increased to 407,500 last week from 403,500. The unemployment rate among people eligible for benefits fell to 2.9 percent in the week ended Aug. 13 from 3 percent, today’s report showed.
• Northeast Preps for Biggest Hurricane Threat Since 1985. New York, New Jersey and Delaware officials are preparing for the possibility of mass evacuations as Hurricane Irene threatens to wreak the most havoc in the Northeast since Hurricane Gloria in 1985.
• Volksbanken Won't Pay State Dividend, May Face Nationalization. Oesterreichische Volksbanken AG, the Austrian lender that failed last month's European stress test, may face nationalization after missing a dividend payment on state capital for the third time in as many years. "Due to the difficult economic situation and the implementation of the company strategy for 2015, a payment of dividends" for non-equity participation shares can't be met, Austria's fourth-biggest lender said in a statement today.
  
• CFTC May Adopt Final Speculation Limits as Early as Sept. 22. The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission may vote as early as Sept. 22 to complete Dodd-Frank Act limits on speculative trading in commodities such as oil, natural gas and wheat, CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler said. The so-called position-limits rule and regulations governing derivatives clearinghouses may be voted on by commissioners next month, Gensler told reporters today during a CFTC economic research conference in Washington. The agency has a rulemaking meeting scheduled for Sept. 22. “I don’t know if it will be that meeting or early October,” Gensler said. “I feel very good about the progress staff has made.”
• Crude Oil Futures Advance in New York, Reversing Earlier Decline. Crude oil advanced in New York, rebounding from an earlier decline. Crude for October delivery gained 64 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $85.80 a barrel at 1:10 p.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent oil for October settlement rose $1.03, or 0.9 percent, to $111.18 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange.
• Buffett to Host Obama Fundraiser in New York. Billionaire Warren Buffett plans to hold a Sept. 30 fundraiser in New York City to benefit President Barack Obama’s re-election bid, according to two Democratic officials not authorized to speak publicly about the event.
• Citigroup(C), UBS(UBS) Cut Global Economic Growth Outlook as Jackson Hole Starts. Central bankers began arriving for their annual policy symposium in Jackson Hole as economists from Citigroup Inc. to UBS AG cut forecasts for global growth and predicted interest rates will stay on hold until at least 2013. Citigroup said the world economy will grow 3.8 percent this year and 4 percent in 2012 in purchasing power parity terms, down from 4.2 percent and 4.4 percent. UBS cut its estimate for expansion next year to 3.3 percent from 3.8 percent and Societe Generale SA pared its forecast to 3.9 percent from 4.6 percent.

Wall Street Journal:

• Greek Default Fears Rise. Euro-zone policy makers appeared nowhere near settling a dispute Thursday over Finland's collateral demands in exchange for participating in a €109 billion ($157.1 million) bailout for Greece, raising concerns the Mediterranean nation may default. Markets have grown more worried about the potential for a Greek debt default amid a lack of progress in resolving the collateral issue this week, according to a person familiar with the situation. Finland, meanwhile, shows no sign of backing down. Yields on Greek two-year bonds rocketed to a record of over 43% Thursday, according to Tradeweb, and the cost of insuring Greek government bonds against default also rose sharply. Greek five-year sovereign credit-default swaps were 1.37 percentage points wider at 22.75 percentage points, according to Markit. Euro-zone governments are looking into alternative forms of collateral after a cash deal reached earlier between Greece and Finland was rejected by key member countries, including Germany and the Netherlands. The collateral dispute, if not resolved soon, could derail a second bailout package for Greece agreed by euro-zone leaders on July 21. Without support from all 17 euro-zone countries, no funds can be released, while changes to the European Financial Stability Facility, the currency bloc's bailout fund, can't go forward either. "It seems that a possible outcome is either collateral for all member states or no country will get it," said another person, who remains hopeful a solution can be found by the end of Friday. Finland said Thursday that it continues discussions with Greece and other euro-zone countries to find a solution. Officials refrained from further comment. "The issue has become so politicized that no one here at the Finance Ministry wants to talk about it at the moment," said Anita Sihvola, spokeswoman for the Finnish finance ministry. On Wednesday, Finance Minister Jutta Urpilainen reiterated that Finland won't take part in the Greek bailout unless it obtains collateral.

MarketWatch:

• Job's Departure No Reason to Ditch Apple(AAPL).

Business Insider:

• Roundup: Here's What Everyone Expects From Bernanke At Jackson Hole.
• Spain, Italy, France, Greece and Belgium Extend Bans On Short Selling.
• China Quietly Admits to $470 Billion In Its Underground Banking System.
• Greece Quietly Activates Emergency Liquidity Measures.
• China Swoops In To Claim Lucrative Libyan Infrastructure Deals.
  

Zero Hedge:

• "A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing". This really bothers me. You have to love that Warren Buffett, the richest man in the world, has deemed himself representative and ambassador for those making $250,000 and more..."People like myself" he says. People that take home $250,000 a year before taxes are somehow in the same category as the richest man in the world?
• Obama's Latest Stimulus: Handing Out Jobless Benefits To Striking Workers.
• Irene Is Now Expected To Pass Right Over Wall Street With 74-95 mph Winds. (pic)
  

NY Post:

• Amazon.com(AMZN) May Sell Low-Cost Tablet Next Month.

TheStreet.com:

• Bank of America(BAC), Buffett Deal Stinks: Bove. Bank of America(BAC_)'s $5 billion preferred equity investment from Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway(BRK.A_) is "a terrible, terrible deal," according to Rochdale Securities analyst Dick Bove.

Seeking Alpha:

• Buffett's Deal With Bank of America(BAC) Is Absolutely Terrible... for Bank of America (BAC) that is. For Warren Buffett, this is easily one of the most ruthless, aggressive, and ultimately profitable deals he's struck on behalf of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B) since the financial crisis began. Buffett always laments the difficulty in finding good investment opportunities when you're running a company the size of Berkshire, but as this deal shows, sometimes it pays to be a fat cat that can toss around $5 billion at a moment's notice. To demonstrate just how ridiculously good this deal is for Berkshire, let's compare it to another one of Buffet's famous bailouts that has paid off handsomely for his company: his investment in Goldman Sachs (GS).

Nasdaq:

• Pimco CEO: Bernanke Must Avoid 'QE3' In Friday Speech - FT. The head of bond-fund giant Pimco says Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke should avoid any suggestion the U.S. central bank intends to pursue new purchases of Treasury Bonds and instead use a much-anticipated Friday speech to press for economic reforms. Mohamed El-Erian, in an opinion essay published Thursday on the Financial Times' website, wrote that Bernanke would likely encounter little political support for extending the Fed's policy of "quantitative easing," dubbed "QE3." Moreover, "expectations are far ahead of what he can reasonably deliver in terms of economic outcomes," El-Erian added. The chief executive of Pacific Investment Management Co. said Bernanke's speech Friday at a Fed event in Wyoming could best be used as a forum from which to launch fresh efforts to fix the struggling U.S. economy." Rather than embark on another policy initiative ('QE3') with questionable net benefits, it would be better for Mr. Bernanke to use his Jackson Hole speech to reframe the national policy debate and, in the process, set the stage for President Barack Obama's key economic announcements on September 5. "The time has come for the American policy narrative to be much more explicit about the structural challenges facing the country and, critically, set the stage for proposing to Congress a comprehensive package of self-reinforcing reforms. Mr. Bernanke can facilitate this by using his Jackson Hole remarks as the warm-up act for Mr. Obama's critical speech on the economy next month. Anything beyond this would run the risk of the Fed building another costly bridge to nowhere."

Rasmussen Reports:

• Daily Presidential Tracking Poll. The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Thursday shows that 21% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as president. Forty-five percent (45%) Strongly Disapprove, giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -24 (see trends).

Handelsblatt:

• Finland's agreement with Greece on collateral to cover its bailout contribution won't be accepted by other euro region member-states, citing people familiar with the matter. The agreement is "off the table," German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said at a meeting of the parliamentary groups of the Christian Democratic Union and its Christian Social Union sister party, according to people who attended.

Confidencial:

• Spain's government plans to reintroduce a wealth tax scrapped in 2008, and increase the minimum threshold at which the levy applies to 1.5 million euros. The Cabinet plans to adopt the measure at its meeting tomorrow.

Le Echos:

• European banks are more vulnerable to the debt crisis than their U.S. counterparts because their capital levels are smaller, citing PIMCO's Mohamed El-Erian. Europe's banks didn't raise capital during the relative calm of 2010, and the region's lenders also carry higher debt and lower deposits in the euro area's "peripheral" countries, he said in an interview. The ECB has been contaminated by increasing amounts of the debt of the region's troubled countries and has now become an inherent part of the euro zone's problems, he said. The solution to Europe's debt crisis may mean choosing between saving the problem countries on the euro zone's periphery and preserving its solid core, he said.

Xinhua:

• China will continue macro-control policies on the property sector "without changing the direction or loosening the policies," Zhang Ping, head of the National Development and Reform Commission, was cited as saying.
• China's head of the National Development and Reform Commission Zhang Ping said it will be "difficult to keep the consumer price index growth below the government's target this year."
• Inflationary expectations in China may continue to grow and prices are likely to remain high, making price-control targets harder to achieve, citing a government official. "Global liquidity will remain abundant in the short term and imported inflationary pressure has not eased by much," said Zhang Ping, head of the National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic planner, in a report to the National People's Congress.
  

China News:

• China will strictly control the size of local government debt, citing Chinese Finance Minister Xie Xuren.

Bear Radar

Style Underperformer:

• Mid-Cap Value (-1.60%)

Sector Underperformers:

• 1) Airlines -2.81% 2) Networking -2.51% 3) Insurance -2.31%

Stocks Falling on Unusual Volume:

• AVAV, BP, VOD, RUE, PDCO, CISG, SHPGY, URBN, GOLD, CPLA, CY, MCRS, INFY, NIHD, TWGP, GSM, AGNC, RNOW, MDVN, NAVG, ULTI, GES, CSS, CPK, MTK, EWG, JXI, LFC, HRL, IVR, EXPR, ATLS, SPW and SLH
  

Stocks With Unusual Put Option Activity:

• 1) PSS 2) HON 3) HAL 4) SCHW 5) MOO
  

Stocks With Most Negative News Mentions:

• 1) UTHR 2) LDK 3) CSUN 4) SCHW 5) QLGC
  

Charts:

• ETFs Falling on Unusual Volume
• Stocks Falling on Unusual Volume
  

Bull Radar

Style Outperformer:

• Small-Cap Value (-.91%)

Sector Outperformers:

• 1) Banks +1.38% 2) Gold & Silver +.39% 3) Coal +.29%

Stocks Rising on Unusual Volume:

• C, BCS, NSANY, DEO, ATPG, CHU, NGD, PANL, BECN, CAVM, PSS, SIG and HEI
  

Stocks With Unusual Call Option Activity:

• 1) XHB 2) AONE 3) PSS 4) VMED 5) GOLD
  

Stocks With Most Positive News Mentions:

• 1) FFIV 2) TTC 3) EME 4) MDT 5) BAX
  

Charts:

• ETFs Rising on Unusual Volume
• Stocks Rising on Unusual Volume