Evening Headlines
Bloomberg:
- Italy Can Keep Tax Pledges Without Budget Cuts, Saccomanni Says. The Italian government won’t need to
make more budget cuts this year to finance a plan to ease taxes,
and it remains committed to suspending payment of an unpopular
property levy, Finance Minister Fabrizio Saccomanni said. The
government held a Cabinet meeting yesterday to suspend
the June payment of the tax on primary residences in a bid to
make good on Prime Minister Enrico Letta’s inauguration pledge. The
decision was put off until the next meeting, which may be held as soon
as May 12, when Letta’s new government holds a retreat at a monastery
near Siena, Italy, Saccomanni said on the
“Otto e Mezzo” program on La 7 television
- Swiss Watches Unworn as China Tackles Graft: Chart of the Day. (graph) The CHART OF THE DAY shows Chinese imports of Swiss-made watches tumbled
24 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier for a third
straight decline, while shipments to Hong Kong sank 9.3 percent,
according to trade data from Switzerland.
- Sony Misses Estimates as Hirai Drives Samsung Challenge. Sony Corp. (6758) forecast annual profit
that missed analysts’ estimates as Chief Executive Officer Kazuo Hirai
rolls out new Xperia smartphones and Bravia televisions to
recapture market share lost to Samsung Electronics Co.
- RBA Cuts CPI Outlook as Aussie, Mine-Boom Peak Weigh on GDP.
The Reserve Bank of Australia lowered its inflation outlook and
reiterated its forecast for “below trend” growth this year, reflecting
an elevated currency, a crest in resource investment and fiscal
tightening. “The outlook for non-mining business investment remains
relatively weak over the next few months,” the RBA said in its quarterly
monetary policy statement released in Sydney today. “The approaching
peak in resource investment, the high level of the Australian dollar and
ongoing fiscal consolidation are all likely to weigh on growth over the
next year or so, while at the same time the low level of interest rates
is helping to support
demand.”
- Commodity Investors Withdrew a Record $9.3 Billion Last Month. Investors
withdrew a record $9.3
billion from commodity exchange-traded products as gold sales
pushed the metal into a bear market, BlackRock Inc (BLK) said. The
outflow for commodities in April pushed the total for the first four
months this year to $17.8 billion, compared with inflows of $6 billion
for the same period last year, BlackRock said in a report dated
April 30. The previous record for commodity sales was $5.2 billion in
February. Gold outflows were an all-time high of $8.7 billion last month
as the metal slid to a two-year low in London on April 16, two sessions
after falling into a bear market. The Standard & Poor’s GSCI gauge
of 24 raw materials fell
4.7 percent last month, the most since May.
- Natural Rubber Imports by India Seen Falling as Car Sales Shrink. Natural rubber imports by India, the
world’s third-biggest user, are poised to drop for the first
time in five years from a record as declining car sales crimp
demand for the commodity used in tires. Inbound shipments are estimated to drop 17 percent to
180,000 metric tons in the year that started April 1 from an
all-time high of 217,364 tons a year earlier, Sheela Thomas,
chairman of the Rubber Board of India, said in an e-mailed
interview. The biggest slump in car sales since 2001 last year
boosted local rubber stockpiles 13 percent to 266,000 tons, and
will make up for a domestic shortfall in supplies, she said. Reduced demand from India may accelerate a decline in
futures in Tokyo, which have lost about 9 percent this year and
entered a bear market in April on signs that weak demand from
China, the largest user, will expand a global glut.
- Copper Pares Third Weekly Advance on China Demand Concern.
Copper declined, paring a third weekly advance, on speculation that
inflation may accelerate in China, curbing further stimulus. Tin also
dropped.
Copper for delivery in three months lost as much as 1.1
percent to $7,275.25 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange
before trading at $7,345 as of 9:55 a.m. Shanghai time.
- Pimco Raises Treasuries Holdings to Highest Level Since 2010. Pacific Investment Management Co.’s
Bill Gross raised the holdings of Treasuries in his flagship
fund at to the highest level since July 2010 while warning that
investors face potential losses from central-bank policies. The proportion of U.S. government securities in the $292.9
billion Total Return Fund increased to 39 percent in April, from
33 percent in March, according to data on Newport Beach,
California-based Pimco’s website. Mortgage holdings rose to 34
percent, from 33 percent in March, which was the lowest level
since August 2011. The company doesn’t comment directly on
monthly changes in its portfolio holdings.
Wall Street Journal:
- ESPN Eyes Subsidizing Wireless-Data Plans. Smartphone users who binge on video, games and other content must
monitor their usage to ensure they don't run over monthly data caps that
wireless carriers have put in place in recent years.
Now, some media companies whose mobile
content gets a lot of traffic are considering arrangements with
wireless carriers that would ensure their users can watch, surf and play
as much as they want without being hit with stiff overage charges.
- Falling Deficit Alters Debate. Improving
Federal Finances Lessen Pressure on Democrats, Republicans to
Negotiate. Rising government revenue from tax collections and bailout
paybacks are
shrinking the federal deficit faster than expected, delaying the point
when the government will reach the so-called debt ceiling and altering
the budget debate in Washington.
- Hezbollah Says Syria to Supply Strategic Weapons.
Hezbollah's leader on Thursday said Syria will provide him with weapons
that will change the balance of power in his battle with Israel and
threatened to fight the Jewish state from inside Syria, ramping up
tensions after last week's Israeli airstrikes there.
Fox News:
- Republican leaders boycott controversial ObamaCare board. The Republican leaders of the House and Senate announced Thursday
that they will boycott the ObamaCare-created committee responsible for
holding down Medicare costs, in a challenge to a controversial element
of the health care overhaul. The Individual Payment Advisory Board, or IPAB, has been described as
a "death panel" by some of its fiercest critics. Though that epithet is
not often used anymore to describe the panel, Republicans still say it
would hurt seniors by forcing doctors to stop seeing patients.
CNBC:
- ‘Ridiculously Bearish for Miners’: Gartman. (video) The
move in the U.S. dollar bodes poorly for gold and worse for mining
companies, Dennis Gartman of The Gartman Letter said Thursday on CNBC.
"It broke out against every currency out there, even the Aussie, so
this is a dollar move, and a dollar move to this sort of strength cannot
be construed as being anything other than bearish for the metals
and ridiculously bearish for the miners," he said.
- Brent-WTI Oil Spread Collapse Spooks Refiners, Railways. The near $20 premium North Sea Brent held
for much of 2012 over U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) has
fallen to less than $8 a barrel, the lowest since the crude-by-rail boom
began to gather steam in early 2011.
Zero Hedge:
Business Insider:
New York Times:
The Blaze:
Reuters:
- Huge cyber bank theft spans 27 countries. In one of the biggest
ever bank heists, a global cyber crime ring stole $45 million
from two Middle Eastern banks by hacking into credit card
processing firms and withdrawing money from ATMs in 27
countries, U.S. prosecutors said on Thursday. The U.S. Justice Department accused eight men of allegedly
forming the New York-based cell of the organization, and said
seven of them have been arrested. The eighth, allegedly a leader
of the cell, was reported to have been murdered in the Dominican
Republic on April 27.
- Brazil's big government seen as good for politics, bad for economy. President Dilma Rousseff added a
new minister to her Cabinet on Thursday, further enlarging a
federal government whose rapid growth since her leftist party
came to power a decade ago has increased Brazil's heavy tax
burden. Rousseff, who is seeking re-election next year, swore in
Guilherme Afif Domingos to head the newly created Ministry of
Micro and Small Businesses, the country's 39th ministry.
- JPMorgan(JPM) sued by California over 'illegal' debt collections. California's attorney general
sued JPMorgan Chase & Co on Thursday, accusing the
company of falsely signing documents to unlawfully collect
credit card debt from thousands of customers. The lawsuit accuses JPMorgan of engaging in widespread,
illegal "robo-signing" of legal documents to commit
debt-collection abuses against approximately 100,000 California
credit card borrowers.
- U.S. automakers urge congressional response to falling yen. U.S.
automakers
called on Congress to take action in response to the falling value of
the Japanese yen, which they said has hurt their exports and was a good
reason to keep Japan out of a proposed U.S.-led free trade pact.
"It's time for U.S. lawmakers to say they have had enough," American
Automotive Policy Council President Matt Blunt said in a statement on
Thursday, as the dollar rose to its highest value
in over four years, blasting through the 100-yen mark.
Telegraph:
Evening Recommendations
Janney Montgomery:
- Rated (DDD) Buy, target $56.
- Rated (SSYS) Buy, target $101.
- Rated (PRLB) Buy, target $60.
Night Trading
- Asian equity indices are -.25% to +.75% on average.
- Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 100.5 +1.5 basis points.
- Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 82.0 +1.5 basis points.
- NASDAQ 100 futures +.26%.
Morning Preview Links
Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate
Economic Releases
2:00 pm EST
- The Monthly Budget Statement for April is estimated at $110.0B versus $59.1B in March.
Upcoming Splits
Other Potential Market Movers
- The Fed's Bernanke speaking, Fed's George speaking, Fed's Evans speaking, China Money Supply/New Loan data, USDA Crop Report, Canada Unemployment report, (SWFT) investor day and the (WY) analyst meeting could also impact trading today.
BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly higher, boosted by automaker and financial shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open modestly higher and weaken into the afternoon, finishing modestly lower. The Portfolio is 50% net long heading into the day.
Broad Market Tone:
- Advance/Decline Line: Lower
- Sector Performance: Most Sectors Declining
- Market Leading Stocks: Performing In Line
Equity Investor Angst:
- ISE Sentiment Index 99.0 -29.29%
- Total Put/Call 1.01 +16.09%
Credit Investor Angst:
- North American Investment Grade CDS Index 70.44 +2.06%
- European Financial Sector CDS Index 136.48 +2.56%
- Western Europe Sovereign Debt CDS Index 89.50 -2.07%
- Emerging Market CDS Index 230.71 -.56%
- 2-Year Swap Spread 13.5 -.25 bp
- 3-Month EUR/USD Cross-Currency Basis Swap -14.75 +.5 bp
Economic Gauges:
- 3-Month T-Bill Yield .04% unch.
- China Import Iron Ore Spot $130.20/Metric Tonne unch.
- Citi US Economic Surprise Index -6.9 +1.0 point
- 10-Year TIPS Spread 2.30 +2 bps
Overseas Futures:
- Nikkei Futures: Indicating +375 open in Japan
- DAX Futures: Indicating -12 open in Germany
Portfolio:
- Higher: On gains in my retail/medical/biotech sector longs and emerging markets shorts
- Disclosed Trades: Added to my (IWM)/(QQQ) hedges
- Market Exposure: Moved to 50% Net Long
Bloomberg:
- Spanish Bonds Fall as Auction Demand Wanes; Italian Debt Drops.
Spanish government bonds fell, pushing 10-year yields to the highest
level this month, as demand dropped when the nation sold a combined 4.57
billion euros ($5.99 billion) of securities at an auction.
Longer-maturity debt led declines as investors submitted bids for 1.62
times the amount of the 13-year bonds sold today, down from 2.85 times
at the previous auction in January. The so-called bid-to-cover ratio
also worsened for three- and five-year notes. Spain’s 10-year yield fell
to the lowest in three years last week after the European Central Bank
cut its main refinancing rate to boost growth. Italian bonds also
declined.
- ECB Seen Desisting From Further Rate Cut Until 2015. The
European Central Bank will refrain from cutting its interest rate again
until at least 2015, according to economists surveyed since President
Mario Draghi’s pledge last week to deliver another reduction if needed.
The Frankfurt-based central bank will leave its main refinancing rate
at a record-low 0.5 percent until the end of 2014, according to the
median of 18 forecasts in the monthly Bloomberg survey of economists.
The same survey shows that 27 of
32 economists predict no cut in the benchmark by the end of
2013, while five see a reduction to 0.25 percent.
- Yen Weakens Past 100 Per Dollar for First Time in Four Years. The yen weakened beyond 100 per dollar
for the first time in four years as the Bank of Japan’s
deflation-fighting measures have the currency headed for its
longest streak of monthly losses in almost two decades.
Fox News:
- Boehner calls for release of Benghazi emails as pressure grows on administration. Pressure on the Obama administration to release more information
about the Benghazi attack grew Thursday, as House Speaker John Boehner
demanded officials turn over emails pertaining to the controversial
"talking points" and another top Republican appealed for more
whistle-blowers to come forward. On the heels of a dramatic hearing where three whistle-blowers
testified, Fox News has learned that former Vice President Dick Cheney
on Thursday, on the Hill for a meeting with House Republicans, also told
lawmakers: "I think Hillary (Clinton) should be subpoenaed if
necessary."
CNBC:
- Mortgage Delinquency Rate Rises as Inventory Eases.
The delinquency rate on U.S. home mortgages rose in the first quarter
as more homeowners fell behind on payments for the first time, data from
an industry group showed on Thursday. The seasonally adjusted delinquency rate on all loans rose to 7.25 percent from 7.09 percent in the first quarter but was down from 7.40 percent a year ago, according to the report from the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Zero Hedge:
Business Insider:
Real Clear Politics:
- A Coverup Laid Bare. Thanks to House Republicans, Americans finally got to hear from the
State Department officials the Obama administration never wanted to
testify. They are now called “whistleblowers,” but that’s only because
their accounts of what really happened in Libya on Sept. 11, 2012, were
buried by the administration, apparently in the furtherance of
Democrats’ election-year imperatives.
Reuters:
- Fed's Plosser adds voice to too-big-to-fail criticisms. The United States is falling
short in its effort to end the problem of too-big-to-fail banks
and should require higher capital and adopt a fresh approach to
winding down firms that face bankruptcy, a top Federal Reserve
official warned on Thursday. In a speech, Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser
threw his weight behind growing momentum among regulators and
politicians to crack down on big banks some five years after the
global financial crisis led to massive government bailouts and a
deep recession. "Can we end too big to fail? I think we can, but I believe
the current efforts may come up short," Plosser told the Annual
Simon New York City Conference.
- Copper slips, taking breather after 3-week high.
Eesti Paeevaleht:
- Europe's Austerity Is 'Pure Irony,' Estonia's Ligi Says. Europe
accounts for half of global social spending with less than 10% of world
population, Estonian Finance Minister Juergen Ligi said in an interview.
Excessive taxes and imprecisely allocated public spending are main
drags on regional development. "Actual austerity hasn't been noticeable
in most countries, he said.
Xinhua:
- China's Inflation Pressures Haven't Eased. China's inflation
pressures haven't eased because of large domestic money supply and
quantitative easing policies of major developed countries, citing Zhang
Liqun, a researcher with the State Council's Development Research
Center. China shouldn't have expansionary policies now to boost economic
growth, otherwise inflation will rebound.
Style Underperformer:
Sector Underperformers:
- 1) Disk Drives -1.37% 2) Utilities -1.21% 3) Airlines -.73%
Stocks Falling on Unusual Volume:
- JCOM, WIN, IRE, MTDR, PXP, CLMT, MNST, SPRD, RLOC, WFR, EFC, OFIX, SSNC, RAX, DLR, RST, ISIS, NBL, XRAY, DFT, CWH, GNMK, CTB, THI, NTWK, ATVI, MYRG, PROV, ICUI, COR, DISH, ADBE, DFT, LBTYA, RWT and MED
Stocks With Unusual Put Option Activity:
- 1) RAX 2) STT 3) TSLA 4) DISH 5) CWH
Stocks With Most Negative News Mentions:
- 1) GES 2) CCL 3) MNST 4) DNDN 5) LPSN
Charts:
Style Outperformer:
Sector Outperformers:
- 1) Homebuilders +1.13% 2) Retail +.58% 3) Defense +.32%
Stocks Rising on Unusual Volume:
- PCP, NWSA, BKS, CTRP, TSLA, GMCR, ABFS, SODA, DOLE, LULU, SRPT and NPSP
Stocks With Unusual Call Option Activity:
- 1) AFFY 2) BKS 3) GMCR 4) RAX 5) CWH
Stocks With Most Positive News Mentions:
- 1) DOLE 2) WTR 3) LMT 4) COST 5) PH
Charts:
Evening Headlines
Bloomberg:
- Town With No Fowl Shows Consequences of China’s Bird Flu Threat. In the village on the outskirts of Beijing where a 7-year-old girl
became the Chinese capital’s first bird flu patient, poultry are
conspicuous by their absence. Authorities culled chickens and
shut live poultry stalls to limit human exposure to farmed birds, which
scientists believe are the most probable reservoir of the new H7N9
influenza strain. In the village of Gucheng, 20 kilometers (12 miles)
northeast of central Beijing, the only source of chicken readily
available to residents is in a supermarket that’s a 30-minute bus ride
away.
- China Refuses to Confirm Okinawa Island Belongs to Japanese. China refused to confirm that Okinawa belongs to Japan after two Chinese scholars suggested re-examining the ownership of the archipelago that includes the
island, adding to tensions over a separate territorial dispute. Agreements between allied forces during World War II mean
the ownership of the Ryukyu Islands may be in question, the
researchers said in a commentary in the People’s Daily, the
Communist Party’s main newspaper. Asked if China considers
Okinawa part of Japan, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying
said scholars have long studied the history of the Ryukyus and
Okinawa.
- China’s Stocks Fall From on Drop in Producer Prices. China’s
stocks fell for the first time in five days, led by energy and
industrial companies, after producer-price declines deepened. Liquor
makers rose. Datong Coal Industry Co. (601001) and Anhui Conch Cement
Co. slid at least 1.8 percent after the statistics bureau said producer
prices dropped 2.6 percent in April from 1.9 percent a month earlier.
Kweichow Moutai Co. (600519), China’s biggest liquor maker,
jumped 3.8 percent after Shenyin & Wanguo Securities Co.
recommended buying the stock. The producer-price reading “indicates the economic
recovery is weaker than expected as demand for industrial
products looks pretty sluggish,” said Wang Weijun, a strategist at Zheshang Securities Co. in Shanghai.
- Druckenmiller Recommends Betting Against Australian Dollar.
Stanley Druckenmiller, who made $1 billion for George Soros as his
chief strategist by forcing a devaluation of the British pound in 1992,
said investors should bet against the Australian dollar. “We think the Australian dollar will come down and will come down hard,” Druckenmiller said today at the Sohn Investment Conference in New York. “It's expensive.”
- Asian Stocks Rise Fourth Day on Earnings; Toyota Gains. Asian
stocks climbed, with the regional benchmark index on course to extend a
five-year high, as the Bank of Korea cut interest rates and companies
from Toyota Motor Corp. (7203) to Mitsui & Co. forecast higher
profit. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index advanced 0.3 percent to 143.93 as of 10:55 a.m. in Tokyo, gaining for a fourth day.
- JPMorgan(JPM) Says Energy Watchdog May Seek to Punish Units, Workers. JPMorgan Chase & Co., the biggest U.S.
bank, was warned by federal energy-market regulators that its
personnel and two subsidiaries may face claims stemming from a
probe into bidding practices. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission staff told JPMorgan in
March they may recommend the agency bring an enforcement case,
the New York-based company said yesterday in a regulatory
filing. Claims may include “alleged violations of FERC rules
and the rules of certain independent system operators,” the
lender said, without elaborating on the allegations.
Wall Street Journal:
- Diplomat Airs Benghazi Attack Details. In Riveting Account of Libya Raid,
Official Knocks Administration Response. A high-ranking American diplomat delivered an emotional reconstruction
Wednesday of the Sept. 11, 2012, attacks on the U.S. consulate in
Benghazi, Libya, providing the first detailed public account from an
American official who was on the ground in Libya. The testimony from Gregory Hicks, the No. 2 U.S. official in Libya at
the time, before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee
also drew new attention to key questions about the attacks, and how the
administration handled the aftermath.
The diplomat said he believes the U.S.
military could have done more to assist U.S. personnel on the ground.
He also said top officials in Washington overlooked information in their
early conclusion, since abandoned, that the attack began as a protest.
- Big Banks Push Back Against Tighter Rules. The nation's biggest banks are going on the offensive to fend off growing efforts in Washington to rein them in.
The banks have hired longtime,
influential Washington hands to deflect regulatory and political
pressure to strengthen their finances and to sell assets. Regulators and
some lawmakers have raised concern that large banks remain "too big to
fail" and could require another government bailout in the event of a new
financial meltdown.
- U.S. Is Warned Russia Plans Syria Arms Sale. Israel has warned the U.S. that a Russian deal is imminent to sell
advanced ground-to-air missile systems to Syria, weapons that would
significantly boost the regime's ability to stave off intervention in
its civil war.
- Asia Wrestles With a Flood of Cash. Asian Central Banks Struggle to Tamp Down Strong Currencies. Central banks in Asia, Australia and New Zealand are ratcheting up
moves to deal with an influx of capital that is keeping currencies
strong and complicating efforts to manage growth. New Zealand's central bank said Wednesday it intervened in
foreign-exchange markets to blunt the rise of its currency and would
continue to do so, a day after Australia's central bank cut interest
rates to a record low and noted the stubborn strength of the Australian
dollar. Elsewhere, China is moving to curb bets on the rising yuan,
while Thailand is considering efforts to curb the strongest baht since
the 1997 Asian financial crisis.
Fox News:
- Whistle-blower: Botched talking points hurt FBI probe of Benghazi attack. A key Benghazi whistle-blower, responding to Democratic claims that
the prolonged scrutiny over the administration's botched talking points
is unwarranted, testified Wednesday that the early mischaracterization
of the attack may have actually hurt the FBI's investigation. "I
definitely believe that it negatively affected our ability to get
the FBI team quickly to Benghazi," said Greg Hicks, the deputy chief of
mission in Libya who became the top U.S. diplomat in the country after
Ambassador Chris Stevens was killed. He claimed the Libyan president was
angered by the mischaracterization, in turn slowing the U.S. probe. The
claim was one of several new accounts given at Wednesday's high-profile
hearing where three whistle-blowers testified.
CNBC:
- Coffee Talk: Starbucks(SBUX) Exends Deal With Green Mountain Coffee(GMCR). Starbucks and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters announced a five-year agreement on Wednesday to to triple the number of
Starbucks-branded items made for Keurig single-serve coffee machines,
the companies said in a release. Separately, Green Mountain reported better-than-expected earnings for
the fiscal second quarter. Shares shot up 15 percent after-hours.
- Japan Bear Warns on Unfolding Debt Crisis. Japan will be consumed by a debt crisis surpassing the U.S.
subprime crash, a leading U.S.-based hedge fund manager has warned,
telling investors that "the beginning of the end has begun" for Japan's
finances. Over-indebted governments, and especially the
precarious state of Japan's finances, set the tone for the high-profile
Ira Sohn investment conference in New York on Wednesday. Kyle
Bass of Hayman Capital, a $1.8 billion Texas-based hedge fund and a
noted Japan bear, said signs of the crisis had started to emerge, as
banks and dealers become less willing to take the other side of negative
bets from funds such as his.
Zero Hedge:
Business Insider:
ValueWalk.com:
Reuters:
- Transocean(RIG) profit short of Wall Street estimates. Transocean Ltd, the world's
largest offshore drilling contractor, reported on Wednesday a
weaker-than-expected rise in quarterly profit as some of its
rigs could not work for a period of time due to a third-party
equipment problem.
- Rackspace(RAX) results miss estimates after price cuts.
Rackspace Hosting Inc, which leases online storage space to companies,
reported a lower-than-expected quarterly results after it cut prices of
some of its products in February. The company's shares fell 14 percent to $44.84 in
after-hours trading.
Telegraph:
Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung:
- Bundesbank's Weidmann Criticizes France on Deficit. France as euro "heavyweight" should set example on deficit reduction, German central bank head Jens Weidmann says in an
interview. Says countries shouldn't undermine credibility of stricter
European deficit-cutting rules by "taking their flexibility to the limit." Says France deficit projected to rise in 2014 means country "isn't saving." Says pledging to respect rules in future isn't enough for euro area to regain confidence.
Shanghai Securities News:
- China Drafts
Plan to Curb Production Overcapacity. The plan will be submitted to the
central government decision makers for approval, citing people familiar
with the situation. China may strictly control new projects in industries with production overcapacity such as steel, cement and flat glass.
China Securities Journal:
- Chinabond
Limits Non-Financial Co. Accounts. China Central Depository &
Clearing to only allow accounts opened by non-financial institutions to
sell bonds they hold, transfer or settle existing bond contracts, citing
a statement from the clearing house. All other activities are suspended
for these accounts.
- China Doesn't Need Stimulus for
Growth. The tolerance of Chinese decision makers for slowing economic
growth will be higher than the market's expectation, China Securities
Journal says in an editorial on the front-page. Stimulus measures make
it difficult to control property prices and push up food and resource
prices, the editorial says.
Evening Recommendations
Deutsche Bank:
- Rated (MTZ) Buy, target $38.
- Rated (FLR) Buy, target $84.
- Rated (KBR) Buy, target $44.
- Rated (CBI) Buy, target $87.
Night Trading
- Asian equity indices are -.25% to +.50% on average.
- Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 99.0 -1.0 basis point.
- Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 80.5 -.25 basis point.
- NASDAQ 100 futures +.05%.
Morning Preview Links
Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate
Economic Releases
8:30 am EST
- Initial Jobless Claims are estimated to rise to 335K versus 324K the prior week.
- Continuing Claims are estimated to fall to 3018K versus 3019K prior.
10:00 am EST
- Wholesale Inventories for March are estimated to rise +.3% versus a -.3% decline in February.
- Wholesale Sales for March are estimated to rise +.1% versus a +1.7% gain in February.
Upcoming Splits
Other Potential Market Movers
- The Fed's Plosser speaking, Fed's Lacker speaking, Fed's Evans speaking, Spain 10Y bond auction, BoE rate decision, 30Y bond auction, 1Q Mortgage Delinquencies/Foreclosures, weekly EIA natural gas inventory report, weekly Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index, (IRBT) analyst day, (MYGN) investor day and the (AES) investor day could also impact trading today.
BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly higher, boosted by automaker and financial shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open modestly higher and weaken into the afternoon, finishing mixed. The Portfolio is 75% net long heading into the day.
