Style Underperformer:
- Large-Cap Value (-.53%)
- 1) Gold -1.64% 2) Drugs -.93% 3) Homebuilders -.75%
- SMSI, INFY, MRK, CDE, ULTI, CREE, PWRD, JAZZ and ACOR
- 1) MRO 2) MRK 3) VVUS 4) AGNC 5) CCME
- 1) TMRK 2) AMRS 3) RMD 4) PIR 5) RRC
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Bear Radar
Style Underperformer:
Bull Radar
Style Outperformer:
- Small-Cap Growth (+.26%)
- 1) Hospitals +1.07% 2) Education +.91% 3) Agriculture +.80%
- REP, STD, PHG, TEF, DB, SEED, E, PT, TM, SAP, SA, SWC, GEOI, UCTT, CRXL, ORBK, TTMI, CCME, ASMI, AFOP, ISYS, SCOK, JDSU, RIMM, SINA, AMRS, FNGN, IPGP, BODY, SCSC and ZOLL
- 1) INTU 2) MRK 3) STD 4) SA 5) UTX
- 1) AFL 2) KO 3) GD 4) FLS 5) SANM
Thursday Watch
Evening Headlines
Bloomberg:
- Spain Wins 'Breathing Space' Buoyed by Portugal Debt Auction: Euro Credit. Spain’s first bond auction of 2011 may be buoyed by Portugal’s success selling debt yesterday and European efforts to bolster the region’s sovereign-bailout fund. Spain plans to sell as much as 3 billion euros ($3.9 billion) of five-year bonds today. Securities of similar maturity yielded 4.813 percent yesterday on the secondary market, up from 3.576 percent at the last auction on Nov. 4. Italy, the euro region’s second-most indebted nation, aims to issue as much as 6 billion euros of debt due in 2015 and 2026. The yield on Spain’s benchmark 10-year bond approached an eight-year high last week on concern Europe’s debt crisis was spreading and Portugal would follow Greece and Ireland in seeking European Union aid. Portugal’s 10-year borrowing costs fell at a sale of 1.25 billion euros of bonds yesterday, as European leaders moved to cobble together a package of new measures to stop the contagion. “I don’t anticipate any issues, especially since the Portugal auction went fairly well,” said Pavan Wadhwa, head of European interest-rate strategy at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in London. “The bigger question was Portugal and that came through.” The gap between Spanish and German borrowing costs fell 15 basis points yesterday to 241, the biggest drop since Dec. 2. Spain’s benchmark Ibex 35 stock index rose 5.4 percent, the most since May 10.
- EU's New Drive to Stamp Out Euro Region Debt 'Fire' May Fall Short Again. European leaders enter year two of their fight to contain the euro region’s debt woes still struggling to put out the fire. After committing almost $1 trillion, bailing out Greece and Ireland and asserting their determination to save the euro over the past 11 months, policy makers are returning to the drawing board after those previous efforts failed to pacify investors. Their latest plan, elements of which will be debated when finance ministers meet next week, may extend help to Portugal, increase the size of their aid reserves, lower interest rates on bailout loans, and authorize purchases of outstanding bonds. That still may not be enough, said Barton Biggs, managing partner of New York-based hedge fund Traxis Partners LP, who is “short” European securities, betting on their decline. He said officials should issue joint euro-region bonds, a measure opposed by Germany.
- Winter Storm Warning Posted for Hawaii as 49 of 50 States Report Some Snow. While the U.S. Northeast digs out from under a blizzard, peaks on the big island of Hawaii are expected to receive about a foot of snow, the National Weather Service reported. Snow was on the ground today in every U.S. state except Florida, covering 71 percent of the land to an average depth of 6.9 inches (18 centimeters), according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
- Sinovel Wind Shares Fall in Shanghai Debut on Outlook for Sales Growth. Sinovel Wind Group Co., China’s biggest maker of wind turbines, fell on its first day of trading in Shanghai on concern that rising competition will cut sales growth and the company’s stock is overvalued compared with rivals. The company’s shares dropped 7.1 percent from its offer price to 83.64 yuan as of 11:29 a.m. on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
- Obama Calls for a More Civil Nation. President Barack Obama called on the nation to resist the temptation to assign blame for a shooting rampage here that may never fully be explained, but to emerge from the tragedy a more thoughtful, civil nation. Concluding a memorial service for the victims of Saturday's violence, Mr. Obama urged: "Rather than pointing fingers or assigning blame, let us use this occasion to expand our moral imaginations, to listen to each other more carefully, to sharpen our instincts for empathy."
- Suspect's Downward Spiral. Police Records Show Accused Killer Growing More Erratic Before College Suspension. Students and faculty at Pima Community College feared for their safety as Jared Lee Loughner's increasingly erratic behavior led to a series of encounters with campus police in the eight months before he was suspended from school last fall, police reports show. After he was accused of shooting 20 people last Saturday, school officials described his behavior while at Pima as odd and disruptive. But police reports show in chilling detail that the behavior frightened students and teachers. In February, a rattled student told school officials she feared he had a knife, after Mr. Loughner upset his Advanced Poetry Writing class by making comments such as, "why don't we just strap bombs to babies." In May, an instructor was so worried about physical violence on Mr. Loughner's part that she requested—and received—a police guard outside her class. By June, a dean told the police that students in Mr. Loughner's math class were "afraid of any repercussions that could exist from Loughner being unstable in his actions."
- Obama Chief of Staff Daley to Have No Contact With J.P. Morgan(JPM) on Official Matters. The White House’s new Chief of Staff William Daley will have no contact on official matters with his former employer J. P. Morgan Chase & Co., a White House official said Wednesday.
- Valero(VLO) to Invest in Ethanol Plant. Oil refiner Valero Energy Corp. plans to invest in one of the first commercial-scale plants to convert wood into ethanol, an unusual vote of confidence by a major oil company in the emerging technology used to produce so-called cellulosic biofuels. The investment may also be a sign that nascent cellulosic-ethanol technology is turning a corner after years of struggling to commercialize new technology, secure financing and drive down operating costs.
- Don't Bank on Hedge-Fund Gold Rush. One sign the financial world may be returning to normal: Hedge-fund start-ups in 2010 reached the highest level since the boom, with 715 new funds launched in the first nine months of the year, according to Hedge Fund Research.
- Auto Makers Seek Help on Fuel Rules. Auto makers are asking newly empowered House Republicans to help fight a proposal under consideration by the Obama administration to boost fuel-economy standards for new cars and trucks to as high as 62 miles per gallon by 2025.
- Prices Soar on Crop Woes. U.S. Cuts Global Grain Supply Outlook; Higher Prices Expected at Grocery Stores.
- A Price for Raising the Debt Ceiling by Arthur B. Laffer. Republicans should attach provisions repealing the worst aspects of ObamaCare and financial reform to spending that the president absolutely needs.
- Biotech Firms Fight Generics. Brand-name drug companies are fighting to weaken a provision of the health overhaul that was designed to open up generic competition in biotechnology medicines and save billions of dollars. The brand-name companies have drawn support from key lawmakers, raising alarms among generics makers who hoped to enter a huge market previously blocked to them.
- Price Rises for Fuel Threat Airline Net. Rising fuel prices threaten to play havoc with U.S. airline profits again this year.
- Australia's Brisbane City Avoids Worst Flood Fears. Flood water in Australia's third-biggest city peaked below feared catastrophic levels on Thursday but Brisbane and other devastated regions faced years of rebuilding and even the threat of fresh floods in the weeks ahead.
- S. Korea Central Bank Unexpectedly Lifts Interest Rate.
- Commercial Real Estate Rallies. Forgive me for being ever so slightly optimistic two days in a row, but we're getting some improving numbers on the commercial real estate market, and it's worth noting.
Zero Hedge:
IBD:
Forbes:
- UAW's Image Makes Organizing Mission A Tough Sell. United Auto Workers’ union President Bob King is in a tough spot. He wants to convince foreign carmakers with plants in the United States that “working with the UAW is a smart business decision.” But anybody looking at the carnage of the past few years — tens of thousands of U.S. autoworkers displaced and two American carmakers forced into bankruptcy — has got to be wondering what he’s talking about.
- The Chinese Auto Bubble Threat. The more than 30% sales growth achieved in China in 2010 -- to more than 18 million vehicles -- is probably unsustainable, especially as government officials are moving to put the brakes on car purchases. Beijing is limiting new vehicle registrations to deal with the congestion that can make what reportedly should be a 30-minute ride from the airport to downturn into a two-hour odyssey most days. Experts expect sales growth in China to slow to 10-15% this year. But many automakers are making investments based on the assumption of continued strong sales gains.
- Court Lets EPA Mess With Texas. For the third time in two months, Texas officials have lost a legal bid to keep the Obama administration from regulating carbon dioxide emissions from power plants in the Lone Star State. Wednesday, a federal appeals court rejected a request from Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) and state attorney general Greg Abbott to bar the Environmental Protection Agency from taking over the state’s greenhouse gas permitting program.
- Company Earnings Forecast to Grow 27.1% in 2010 4th Quarter. The critical fourth-quarter earnings reporting season is underway, and the early signs are that profits aren't merely recovering, but pouring in. Just a handful of companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 index reported their results by Wednesday, but analysts are calling for 27.1% earnings growth. And that could be conservative. "Earnings season could shape up to be ahead of expectations," says Doug Sandler of RiverFront Investment. "People won't be disappointed."
- Private Weather Network Will Monitor Greenhouse Gases. A private company announced Wednesday that it's launching its own carbon dioxide measuring network to supplement governmental and academic efforts that have tracked greenhouse gas emissions for decades. The new carbon sensor network, which will augment the NOAA sensors, will be overseen in a joint venture between Washington, D.C.-based Earth Networks (formerly AWS Convergence Technologies) and Scripps. Earth Networks is the parent company of the WeatherBug weather network and desktop application used by consumers, schools, government agencies and TV stations. The new sensors will be another possible contributor to the carbon sensor network, says NOAA's Jim Butler, director of global monitoring at NOAA's Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder, Colo. "We will be looking at their data and analyzing it," he says.
Reuters:
- Shrinking Hedge Fund Harbinger Faces Staff Exits. Prominent hedge fund manager Phil Falcone's $7 billion Harbinger Capital Management has been hit by a series of high profile departures in the past few weeks, according to people familiar with the fund. While some departures were voluntary, others were part of an effort to cut the fund's staff, as the firm's assets have shrunk from a peak of $26.5 billion in 2008, the sources said.
- Banks to Meet on AIG(AIG), Recap to Close This Week. Banks will meet in New York City Thursday to make their case for the right to sell the U.S. Treasury's stake in American International Group, three people familiar with the matter said Wednesday.
- PC Shipment Growth Lackluster in Q4. Global personal computer shipments crept up only slightly in the fourth quarter, a pair of industry trackers said on Wednesday, hurt by weak consumer holiday demand and competition from Apple's (AAPL) iPad tablet. PC shipments rose 2.7 percent to 92.1 million in the October-December period, research group IDC said. IDC had expected growth of 5.5 percent. Separately, researcher Gartner said fourth-quarter shipments rose 3.1 percent.
- Illinois Business Leaders Bristle at Tax Hike Plan. Illinois companies hit by an extended economic downturn say the state's proposed remedy to its own financial crisis - a beefy tax increase - will deplete investment in local businesses, trigger job losses and force companies to leave the state.
- US Housing Prices to Bottom in 2011 - Freddie Economist. U.S. housing prices overall are likely to bottom by spring 2011 and begin a gradual rise in 2012, housing lender Freddie Mac's chief economist Frank Nothaft said on Wednesday. "I do think we'll see these housing prices bottom out, maybe by the spring," Nothaft said.
- Broker Group Supports Investment Adviser Watchdog. The U.S. brokerage industry's lead lobbying group wants the Securities and Exchange Commission to establish a comparable system of regulation for both brokers and investment advisers.
- World Bank: Rich Nations' Growth Lags Need for Jobs. Economic growth in the world's wealthier nations is still too slow to create enough jobs for the tens of millions who lost theirs during the worst global recession since World War Two, the World Bank said on Wednesday. In a report detailing its outlook for 2011, the multilateral lender forecast the global economy would expand 3.3 percent this year, softer than the 3.9 percent expansion seen during 2010.
- List of US Concerns With China Grows. China must reduce unfair subsidies, stop the theft of intellectual property and let its currency appreciate, Tim Geithner has said. The US Treasury secretary, in a speech on Wednesday ahead of next week’s visit by Hu Jintao, Chinese president, widened US concerns about Chinese economic policy well beyond currency, which has been a focus of Capitol Hill’s anger.
- France and Germany Veto Increase in EU Rescue Fund. Mr Barroso said the fund boost was a "precautionary" move, not directed at any one country. The gambit is risky since it may be taken by investors as a sign that Brussels fears imminent contagion to Spain, deemed too big for the current fund. The response in Paris and Berlin was chilly. "We think the fund is big enough," said Francois Baroin, France's budget minister. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the bail-out mechanism was "nowhere near exhaustion", adding curtly that she did not wish to debate the matter "any further".
- Broadcom Corp.(BRCM) has expressed interest in acquiring Taiwan-based Ralink Technology Corp. in a possible deal that may reach as much as $800 million, citing chip industry officials.
- South Korean FM Links N. Korea's Uranium Program to Nuclear Weapons. South Korea's top diplomat called North Korea's uranium enrichment program an attempt to make nuclear weapons in his clearest characterization yet of the newly acknowledged program that has added to the already serious concern about Pyongyang's atomic capabilities.
Citigroup:
- Reiterated Buy on (OI), target $38 .
- Maintained Buy on (BAC), $18 target, Removed from Top Picks Live list.
- Reiterated Buy on (VZ), target $39.
- Asian equity indices are unch. to +1.0% on average.
- Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 107.0 -2.5 basis points.
- Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 108.25 -4.25 basis points.
- S&P 500 futures -.08%.
- NASDAQ 100 futures -.03%.
Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate
- (CBSH)/.66
- (INTC)/.53
8:30 am EST
- Initial Jobless Claims for last week are estimated to rise to 410K versus 409K the prior week.
- Continuing Claims are estimated to fall to 4088K versus 4103K prior.
- The Producer Price Index for December is estimated to rise +.8% versus a +.8% gain in November.
- The PPI Ex Food & Energy for December is estimated to rise +.2% versus a +.3% gain in November.
- The Trade Deficit for November is estimated at -$40.5B versus -$38.7B in October.
- None of note
- The Fed's Bernanke speaking and the weekly EIA natural gas inventory report could also impact trading today.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Stocks Surging into Final Hour on Less Eurozone Debt Angst, Diminishing Financial Sector Pessimism, More Economic Optimism, Technical Buying
Broad Market Tone:
- Advance/Decline Line: Higher
- Sector Performance: Most Sectors Rising
- Volume: Slightly Below Average
- Market Leading Stocks: Performing In Line
- VIX 16.46 -2.55%
- ISE Sentiment Index 169.0 +6.29%
- Total Put/Call .83 -1.19%
- NYSE Arms .54 -32.59%
- North American Investment Grade CDS Index 83.51 -3.21%
- European Financial Sector CDS Index 162.86 bps -6.55%
- Western Europe Sovereign Debt CDS Index 210.75 bps -2.32%
- Emerging Market CDS Index 200.83 -2.65%
- 2-Year Swap Spread 23.0 -2 bps
- TED Spread 16.0 unch.
- 3-Month T-Bill Yield .14% unch.
- Yield Curve 276.0 unch.
- China Import Iron Ore Spot $175.40/Metric Tonne +.46%
- Citi US Economic Surprise Index +36.40 -.3 point
- 10-Year TIPS Spread 2.39% -1 bp
- Nikkei Futures: Indicating +98 open in Japan
- DAX Futures: Indicating +8 open in Germany
- Higher: On gains in my Medical, Ag, Retail 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
Today's Headlines
Bloomberg:
- Bank Bond Risk Falls in Europe After Portuguese Debt Auction. The cost of insuring bank bonds fell by the most in six weeks after Portugal sold debt, amid speculation Asian sovereign wealth funds and central banks will help finance Europe’s deficit-ridden governments. The Markit iTraxx Financial Index of credit-default swaps on the senior debt of 25 banks and insurers dropped 12 basis points to 188, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. at 3 p.m. in London. The gauge is down from 209 basis points on Jan. 10, the highest closing level since the March 2009 record of 210. Lower borrowing costs and speculation the European Central Bank has been buying Portuguese bonds helped ease concern the government will be forced to request a bailout. Markit Group Ltd.’s subordinated financial index dropped 21 basis points to 332, JPMorgan prices show. was down 41 at 1,002. Credit-default swaps on Portuguese government debt dropped 25 basis points to 511, helping push the Markit iTraxx SovX Western Europe Index of swaps on 15 nations 6 basis points lower to 208. Contracts on Ireland declined 19 basis points to 659, Spain fell 18 to 330 and Belgium was 14 lower at 232. Italy decreased 14 basis points to 228 and GreeceThe Markit iTraxx Crossover Index of 50 companies with mostly high-yield credit ratings declined 17 basis points to 426, JPMorgan prices show. The Markit iTraxx Europe Index of 125 companies with investment-grade ratings decreased 5.25 basis points to 107.25.
- Portuguese Borrowing Costs Fall at 10-Year Bond Auction After ECB Buying. Portugal’s borrowing costs fell and demand rose at a sale of 10-year bonds after European Central Bank debt purchases this week helped push down yields, sending the securities higher in the secondary market. The nation sold 599 million euros ($778 million) of bonds due in 2020 at a yield of 6.716 percent, the Portuguese debt management agency said today. That compares with 6.806 percent at the previous auction on Nov. 10.
- Corn, Soybean, Wheat Prices Surge as U.S. Cuts Supply Outlook. Corn and soybeans jumped to the highest prices since July 2008 and wheat surged after the government cut its forecasts of U.S. inventories, signaling tighter food supplies as demand increases and adverse weather reduces harvests. Production of corn in the U.S., the world’s largest grain exporter, dropped 4.9 percent last year and will leave supply before the 2011 harvest at the lowest in 15 years, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said. The USDA also cut its estimate of the soybean crop by 1.4 percent and said domestic wheat inventories will be 16 percent less than a year earlier. Corn, used mostly as livestock feed, has surged more than 60 percent in the past year, while soybeans and wheat advanced 45 percent. Wholesale world food prices tracked by the United Nations surged 25 percent last year to a record, fueled partly by rallies in grains and oilseeds.
- Cattle Futures Surge to Record, Hogs Rally, on Signs of Rising Meat Demand. Cattle futures jumped to a record and hog prices climbed to an eight-month high on signs that meat demand is rising at a time when higher feed costs may curb supply. In the 10 months ended Oct. 31, U.S. beef exports jumped 17 percent from a year earlier and pork shipments rose 2 percent, the latest government data show. The price of corn, the main ingredient in livestock feed, surged 52 percent in 2010.
- China's Chongqing Plans Tax for Used Homes, CCTV Says. The Chinese city of Chongqing plans to introduce a property tax for both new and existing homes, Mayor Huang Qifan said in an interview with state television CCTV, without providing further details. Including existing homes is “quite a surprise,” said Wee Liat Lee, a Hong Kong-based property analyst for Samsung Securities Co., adding that the consensus among analysts had been that the tax would be imposed only on new homes.
- Clarium Hedge Fund Slumps 90% From Peak After Thiel Has Third Losing Year. Peter Thiel got rich investing in PayPal and Facebook Inc. before most people knew them, built a hedge fund that at its apex managed $7.2 billion, and forecast the collapse of the U.S. housing market. He also lost almost two-thirds of his clients’ money. Clarium Capital Management LLC, which Thiel started in 2002 in San Francisco, fell about 23 percent in 2010, the third straight year of declines, according to investors. His fund’s assets are down about 90 percent and clients who stuck with him suffered losses of 65 percent from the mid-2008 peak.
- China Assures Gates on Defense Ties After Surprise Test of Stealth Plane. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates leaves China today with assurances from his counterparts on improved military ties marred by the same uncertainties that have dogged the relationship for years. Gates won a pledge from Chinese military and civilian leaders to consider higher-level dialogue on strategic security issues and he praised them for “constructive” action to rein in North Korea. At the same time, officials wouldn’t commit to specific timelines and seemed at odds internally over U.S. ties.
- Spanish Banks' Financing Costs Spur Doubt on Profit. Spanish banks have more than 30 billion euros ($39 billion) in debt coming due in the next four months. That’s spurring investor doubt on their future profitability as higher financing costs eat into margins. Concern that the country won’t be able to reduce the euro region’s third-highest budget deficit and avoid a European Union bailout has driven up financing expenses for banks.
- India Industrial Output Growth Slows to 2.7% Even as Rate Pressure Mounts. India’s industrial production grew at the slowest pace in 18 months in November, a deceleration that may not prevent the central bank from raising interest rates this month as surging food prices drive up inflation. Output at factories, utilities and mines rose 2.7 percent from a year earlier, the government said in a statement in New Delhi today, less than the revised 11.3 percent jump in October when the Hindu festivals of Dussehra and Diwali boosted demand for goods. The median estimate of 30 economists in a Bloomberg News survey was for a 6.6 percent gain. Food inflation accelerated to 18.32 percent in the week ended Dec. 25, the highest rate since July, the commerce ministry said on Jan. 6. Prices of onions, a key ingredient in the nation’s cuisine, soared 80 percent during the week and milk by 20 percent. The inflation rate may be “around” 6.5 percent by March 31, Mukherjee said, more than the 6 percent prediction he made on Dec. 14. The rate was 7.5 percent in November.
- ITT(ITT) Shares Surge on Decision to Split Conglomerate Into Three Businesses. ITT climbed $10.46, or 20 percent, to $63.24 at 9:39 a.m. on the New York Stock Exchange, the biggest intraday gain since July 1980.
- Pimco's Gross Clashes With Whitney Over Muni-Bond Outlook. Bill Gross, who manages the world’s biggest bond fund at Pacific Investment Management Co., clashed with Meredith Whitney, the banking analyst, when he said he doubted there would be many local-government bankruptcies. “Ultimately, municipal bankruptcies will be at a lower level,” Gross said today on Bloomberg Television’s “InBusiness” program. “I don’t subscribe to the theory that there will be lots of them.”
Wall Street Journal:
- Giffords Continues to Make Progress in Recovery. The recovery of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords after brain surgery is proceeding without setbacks and the congresswoman is showing signs of awareness, although some damage will linger, a doctor said Wednesday. By Friday, doctors will be able to determine whether she is "out of the woods."
- Postings of a Troubled Mind. Accused Shooter Wrote on Gaming Site of His Job Woes, Rejection by Women. A trove of 131 online-forum postings written between April and June 2010, which were viewed by The Wall Street Journal, provides insight into Mr. Loughner's mind-set in the year leading up to Saturday's shootings in Tucson, Ariz.
- GM(GM) Rethinks Pay for Unionized Workers. In a Major Shift, Executives Want to Tie Compensation of UAW Members to Performance and Company's Financial Health.
- Beige Book: US Economy, Jobs Outlook Improving.
- Hedge Funds Lever Up to Pre-Lehman Level as Banks Play Safe. As of the end of 2010, hedge funds have increased leverage to within 10 percent of pre-credit levels, according to a report from UBS Prime Brokerage Services and have likely increased risk up even more to start this year, traders said. Gross leverage for funds has climbed 43 percent from the bottom reached after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008 and is up 13 percent in 2010, according to UBS.
- White House Weighing Corporate Tax Cuts, Geithner Says. The White House is looking for a way to lower the rate of corporate taxes without increasing the deficit, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Wednesday.
- Hedge Fund Manager Michael Hintze On Why There Isn't Any Inflation Yet. Hintze predicted that stocks and bonds will “generally produce positive returns” in 2011 because the Fed’s actions will stimulate global markets, companies are repairing balance sheets and “emerging economies” such as India and China are growing. Despite all this talk about commodities and currencies, currently, Hintze's biggest long investments are in BHP Billiton (his biggest holding), Six Flags, Comcast, Discovery Communications, and Mead Johnson Nutrition.
- Wrenching Photos of the Inflation and Unemployment Protests Tearing Apart Tunisia.
- After Massive Tax Hike, Illinois Continues to Get Humiliated by Neighboring Governor.
- IT'S OFFICIAL: Our IPO Market is Crippled - And It's Hurting Our Country.
- Meet The Central Banker Whose Reckless Money Printing Is Causing Commodity Spikes and Riots Worldwide. What, you thought it was Ben Bernanke?
- More Clues of China's Real Estate Bubble: Ghost Malls. We have already seen Chinese ghost cities, rickety buildings, and a construction spree that makes our own unionized labor force seem positive antiquated. Time to add empty malls to the list.
- U.S. Says NYC Overbilled Medicaid. The federal government has accused New York City of overbilling by “at least tens of millions of dollars” by improperly approving 24-hour home care for thousands of patients.
- Massacre, Followed by Libel. The charge: The Tucson massacre is a consequence of the "climate of hate" created by Sarah Palin, the Tea Party, Glenn Beck, Obamacare opponents and sundry other liberal betes noires. The verdict: Rarely in American political discourse has there been a charge so reckless, so scurrilous and so unsupported by evidence. As killers go, Jared Loughner is not reticent. Yet among all his writings, postings, videos and other ravings - and in all the testimony from all the people who knew him - there is not a single reference to any of these supposed accessories to murder. Not only is there no evidence that Loughner was impelled to violence by any of those upon whom Paul Krugman, Keith Olbermann, the New York Times, the Tucson sheriff and other rabid partisans are fixated. There is no evidence that he was responding to anything, political or otherwise, outside of his own head.
- Lawmaker Raises Questions About Bank of America(BAC), Mortgage Deal. Rep. Brad Miller is raising questions about Bank of America's settlement with the government over soured mortgage-backed securities, asking whether the government got the best deal for taxpayers. In a letter to the agency that oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Miller and three other Democratic lawmakers asked for details on how the government reached settlements with Bank of America and Ally Financial over the repurchase of mortgage-backed securities.
- 'Holiday Hat Trick' of 16M iPhone, 6M iPad, 4.2M Mac Sales Expected From Apple(AAPL). With Apple's quarterly earnings report for the 2010 holidays less than a week away, one Wall Street analyst believes Apple will sell a record 16 million iPhones, 6 million iPads, and 4.2 million Macs. Analyst Mike Abramsky with RBC Capital Markets said on Wednesday that he sees Apple's iPhone sales over the holidays increasing 84 percent year over year. At 16 million, that would well exceed the previous record of 14.1 million iPhones sold in the Sept. 2010 quarter, and put the company on its way toward a "holiday hat trick" of personal bests. And Apple looks poised to have an even better fiscal year in the rest of 2011, with Monday's announcement that a CDMA variant of the iPhone is coming to Verizon on Feb. 10. He sees the iPhone accounting for 50 percent of all smartphone sales on Verizon in calendar year 2011, with a third of current Verizon smartphone owners upgrading to the iPhone. In calendar year 2011, Abramsky expects Apple to sell a total of 70 million iPhones, which would account for 19 percent of the global smartphone market. That would help Apple achieve $90.8 billion in revenue in its fiscal year 2011, with $20 earnings per share, he said. He has also called for Apple to sell 6 million iPads and 4.2 million Macs in the holiday quarter, which concluded in December. Apple notebook sales are projected to be bolstered by the popular new MacBook Air. Both the projected Mac and iPad sales would be new records for those product categories, as Apple achieved sales of 3.89 million Macs and 4.19 million iPads last quarter. In particular, he referred to the iPad as a "monster holiday hit." Finally, Abramsky also sees Apple selling a total of 18.7 million iPods in the quarter. RBC Capital Markets has increased its 12-month price target for AAPL stock to $395, up from a previous prediction of $365.
- Ballmer's Window of Opportunity to Prove His Worth. Some members of Microsoft’s board of directors feel the need to keep their chief executive under closer scrutiny.
- Hedge Funds Bet on $100-A-Barrel Oil. It's not just oil traders who are fueling the price of crude, but financial traders too. Global hedge funds and market speculators have pumped millions of pounds into oil futures pushing the number of contracts held by financial traders to a four year high. The number of bets taken out by the traders soared by 4.6pc in the week to December 28th, taking the total to its highest level since June 2006, according to figures from the Commodity and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in America. The volumes traded by hedge funds and commodity funds is likely to re-ignite concerns about the impact of speculators on the price of oil. In May last year, there was alarm when the price of 2010 settlement oil plunged over three weeks as financial investors halved their net-long positions, according to the CFTC data. Since then, traders have tripled their holdings of oil futures to 217,046 contracts. The volume rose by 9,578 holdings to December 28th, according to the latest report from the CFTC’s weekly Commitments of Traders report.
- Renewable Energy Corp. ASA's Chief Executive Officer Ole Enger expects supply growth in the solar market of 30-40% this year, citing the CEO. The "big question" is of course if demand will rise correspondingly, citing a presentation at a Pareto Securities conference.
Financial Times Deutschland:
- The European Commission and the European rescue fund are preparing to provide as much as $130 billion in credit guarantees to Portugal should it become necessary, citing European Union officials.
Bear Radar
Style Underperformer:
- Large-Cap Growth (+.62%)
- 1) Oil Tankers -.78% 2) HMOs -.34% 3) Coal -.32%
- HTZ, THOR, ACOR and CTRP
- 1) EWJ 2) BAX 3) NE 4) CTRP 5) ACI
- 1) GTIV 2) PXP 3) ROSE 4) HMA 5) SXT
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