Jan 14, 2010

Daily Markets - Financial News & Opinions

Daily Markets - Financial News & Opinions

Swiss Franc: Rebound In Sight

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 11:17 AM PST

Update on supports and resistances. … [visit site to read more]


Australian Dollar: The Bias Remains Bullish

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 11:17 AM PST

Update on supports and resistances. … [visit site to read more]

Canadian Dollar: Caution

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 11:17 AM PST

Update on supports and resistances. … [visit site to read more]

Japanese Yen: The Upside Prevails

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 11:17 AM PST

Update on supports and resistances. … [visit site to read more]

British Pound: The Upside Prevails

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 11:17 AM PST

Update on supports and resistances. … [visit site to read more]

Euro: Bounce

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 11:17 AM PST

Update on supports and resistances. … [visit site to read more]

Shaw Communications Exceeds

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 11:10 AM PST

Shaw Communications Inc. (SJR) exceeds expectations in its first quarter of fiscal 2010. Quarterly revenue of little over $874.2 million was up 22% year-over-year and also above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $870 million. The year-over-year improvement was primarily due to customer growth and rate increases.
Quarterly net income was $110.2 million, or 25 cents per share, compared to a net income of $106.9 million or 25 cents per share in the prior-year quarter. However, excluding … [visit site to read more]

In Defense Of The Taylor Rule

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 11:01 AM PST

Fighting back against Fed chief Ben Bernanke’s recent statements, John Taylor, Stanford economics professor and the creator of the Taylor Rule, states his … [visit site to read more]

Vote For The Year’s Stupidest Corporate Extinction

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 11:00 AM PST

When one considers the state of the modern American economy, the phrase "survival of the fittest" hardly springs to mind. Instead, we think of idioms like "too big to fail" and "zombie bank." We think of Band-Aid fixes, public make-work schemes/scams, of borrowing demand and earnings from the future and assorted other conjuring tricks used by economists and politicians, all designed to ensure the survival of the weakest…at the expense of the fittest.
The nation's largest … [visit site to read more]

Newfield, APC Buys TXCO Assets

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 10:53 AM PST

Newfield Exploration Co. (NFX) and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC) announced a joint transaction to acquire TXCO Resources Inc.’s (TXCO) assets in the Maverick Basin of Southwest Texas for up to $310 million. The final amount will be determined at closing, which is expected in mid-February 2010. The closing is subject to bankruptcy court approval.
As per the deal, Anadarko will acquire more than 80,000 net acres in this basin from TXCO for approximately $93 million, growing its operated … [visit site to read more]

Video: Weather Melts Oil Prices

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 10:47 AM PST

Front month crude prices fell this session following warmer weather in the US. … [visit site to read more]

Video: Kodak Files A Lawsuit Against RIMM & Apple

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 10:47 AM PST

Kodak announced Thursday that it has filed a lawsuit against both BlackBerry maker Research in Motion & iPhone manufacturer Apple claiming both companies use patent protected digital camera utilities. … [visit site to read more]

Hospira’s Restructuring Plan

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 10:36 AM PST

Hospira (HSP) is carrying out its restructuring plans in an attempt to reduce its operating expenses. The company is reducing its workforce by 10% (1400-1500 employees), which would result in savings of $110 -$140 million by 2011. This initiative, named 'Project Fuel', was announced by the company earlier in March 2009. Management reiterated the restructuring plan at the recently held JP Morgan Healthcare Conference.
The main aim of the project was to optimize the product portfolio, … [visit site to read more]

AEP’s New Supply Deal

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 10:21 AM PST

American Electric Power Company Inc. (AEP) entered into an agreement to sell wind energy to Southwestern University in Georgetown. The City of Georgetown will purchase the energy through American Electric Power subsidiary, AEP Energy Partners and sell it to the university for at least 18 years.
 
Southwestern University, signed the agreement to purchase all of its electricity requirements from American Electric Power's West Texas-based wind turbines. Earlier, it sourced electricity … [visit site to read more]

Video: Market Movers: LAB, DPZ, TSN, LEN, TOL, BAC, WFC

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 10:16 AM PST

The latest news and information on U.S. stocks that are moving the market. … [visit site to read more]

Crude Oil Dips On Inventory Jump

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 10:13 AM PST

The federal government's Energy Information Administration (EIA) announced a larger-than-expected build in crude oil and gasoline stockpiles. The agency's bearish report further added that distillate supplies increased unexpectedly despite cold weather conditions, fueling renewed concerns about weak demand in the U.S. The only saving grace came in the form of refinery run-rates, which increased from the previous week.
In its release, the agency said that crude inventories rose by 3.7 … [visit site to read more]

Integrys Sells Power Assets

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 10:05 AM PST

Integrys Energy Group Inc. (TEG) announced that an affiliate of its non-regulated subsidiary Integrys Energy Services Inc., sold some of its power generation assets in northern Maine and New Brunswick, Canada to Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. The sale of its two power generation companies represents approximately 75 megawatts (MW) of the affiliate’s 329.2-MW fleet.
 
Integrys Energy Services also announced that it expects to close the sale of its associated sales and standard … [visit site to read more]

How Well Do You Know ETFs? You May be Surprised

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 10:01 AM PST

Investors are often quick to jump on an ETF because of its recent performance or because Cramer mentioned it last night without first considering what the implications are from various angles like tax liabilities, tracking error and expense ratio. There are a few common traps and examples I can share, and I can’t say I’ve avoided every one of them myself over the years. Here’s how you can:

Commodity Complexity

Let’s say you believe the price of a commodity will rise substantially. … [visit site to read more]

The A To A Of Government Inefficiency

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 10:01 AM PST

Hey ho…what goes?
The stock market registered a gain of 53 points on the Dow yesterday. Gold saw a modest gain too.
And the White House came right out and with a straight face said it had saved 2 million jobs. How do you like that? More than 7 million jobs have disappeared in the correction so far. But the total would have been more than 9 million, had it not been for the feds.
Let's see, $700 billion worth of stimulus spending…hey, that's $350,000 per job. But every dollar of deficit … [visit site to read more]

Video: Risk Aversion Rises After On Poor EuroZone Outlook

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 09:57 AM PST

ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet announced that the outlook for the EuroZone still remains uncertain, therefore lifting risk aversion amongst investors. … [visit site to read more]

Preliminary Results For Cutera

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 09:46 AM PST

Cutera, Inc. (CUTR) recently reported preliminary revenue results for its fourth quarter. For the quarter, Cutera expects revenues to be roughly $15 million, compared to $17.9 million in the year-ago period. The company is expected to report its fourth quarter and full fiscal 2009 results on Feb 8.  
Founded in 1998 and based in Brisbane, CA, Cutera, Inc. designs, manufactures and markets laser and light-based aesthetic applications. The company develops innovative, easy-to-use … [visit site to read more]

Massey Inks Contract With Jindal

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 09:30 AM PST

U.S. Coal producer Massey Energy Company (MEE) signed a memorandum of understanding with India's Jindal Steel & Power Limited (JSPL) for the development and operation of underground coal mining projects, with focus on potential projects in India, Mongolia, Australia and the United States. Separately, Massey announced that it has started the development of a new metallurgical coal mine within its Rowland reserve in Raleigh County, West Virginia. 

Under the agreement, Jindal will be … [visit site to read more]

Highwoods Keeps Strong Leasing

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 09:15 AM PST

Highwoods Properties, Inc. (HIW), a real estate investment trust (REIT), has recently signed a leasing agreement for its 16,000 square feet of industrial space at 412 Gallimore Dairy Road in Greensboro, North Carolina. The deal was signed with Sedgefield Interior Landscapes, a premier interior landscape design, installation and service provider. The detailed terms and conditions of the deal were kept undisclosed. 

At the same time, Highwoods also renewed a lease agreement with The … [visit site to read more]

No Amount Of Money Google Makes In China Could Ever Be Worth Its Credibility

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 09:01 AM PST

If you’re keeping score in the contest between Google Inc. (GOOG) and China’s central government, you should be aware by now that everyone involved loses.

Google stands to lose anywhere from $400 million to $600 million in annual revenue, as well as a considerable foothold in the world’s largest and fastest growing Internet community.
Chinese netizens lose access to a search engine that is vital to the free transportation of online information.
China’s online market loses the … [visit site to read more]

HGSI To Seek Drug Approval In 2Q

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 09:00 AM PST

Human Genome Sciences Inc. (HGSI) announced recently that it intends to seek approval for its potential blockbuster lupus drug candidate Benlysta during the second quarter of 2010 in the United States and Europe. Human Genome and GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK) are co-developing Benlysta for treating patients suffering from systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

We remind investors that in Nov 2009, Benlysta met the primary end-point in BLISS-76, a pivotal phase III study, through 52 weeks. … [visit site to read more]

Gold Could See Exceptional Gain If China Bubble Bursts

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 08:47 AM PST

As The Daily Reckoning has discussed before, there is great division on whether or not China's in a bubble. In a guest post on Zero Hedge, Gary Jeffery argues not only that China is in a bubble, but that upon its bursting a fairly outlandish series of events will take place and lead to the price of gold skyrocketing.
It's definitely not mainstream analysis, which makes it all the more worthy of a look. This is how Jeffery sets the scene:
"…it makes perfect sense for the Chinese monetary … [visit site to read more]

Deceptively Low December Retail Sales

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 08:47 AM PST

Today, we're chock-full-o-stuff to look for, starting with a European Central Bank (ECB) meeting. And throughout the morning, here in the US, there'll be even more "stuff" to look for, like retail sales. And since it's a Thursday, the Weekly Initial Jobless Claims will also print. The Fed's Beige Book printed yesterday afternoon, and we've got that to discuss this morning, too… So, let's get this Tub Thumpin' Thursday going, eh?
Front and center this morning… The … [visit site to read more]

FPL Halts Investment In Florida

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 08:45 AM PST

Florida Power & Light Company, a subsidiary of FPL Group Inc. (FPL), announced the suspension of projects worth $10 billion in Florida, following the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) turning down its proposal to raise base rates. These projects represented the company's investment in Florida’s energy infrastructure over the next five years, which would have created about 20,000 direct and indirect construction and related jobs. 

FPL said it will immediately suspend … [visit site to read more]

Continuing Claims Fall

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 08:43 AM PST

The initial claims for unemployment insurance report was a mixed bag. The numbers are always a bit flaky around the holiday season, so there will still be a fair amount of uncertainty about the real state of the job market for at least a few more weeks.
Initial claims rose by 11,000 to 444,000 last week. However, the 4-week moving average — which takes out some of the big volatility in the week-to-week numbers, and is even more important than normal around the holidays — fell by 9,000 to … [visit site to read more]

California Pizza Trims Outlook

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 08:30 AM PST

California Pizza Kitchen Inc. (CPKI), a leading casual dining restaurant chain, recently declared preliminary fourth-quarter 2009 results, but trimmed its earnings guidance. The company now expects its fourth-quarter earnings in the range of 15 cents to 17 cents a share, down from 16 cents to 18 cents projected earlier. 

The pizza restaurant chain said revenue climbed 3.8% during the quarter to $167.8 million from $161.7 million delivered in the year-ago quarter. Comparable-store sales … [visit site to read more]

The Chinese Giveth…

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 08:24 AM PST

Earlier this week, the People's Bank of China signaled that it was tightening monetary policy. Many market observers attributed the move as a response to the apparent real estate and asset bubbles forming in China.

But is China that intent on restraining asset bubbles?

At about the same time, the government announced that it moving to allow greater leverage for stock market players:

The government said it had approved, "in principle," the creation of stock index futures, trading on … [visit site to read more]

Forex Trading: USDCHF Approaches The Support At 100 Hour MA

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 08:17 AM PST

After failing on the break above the  upper trendline (see chart above), the price in the USDCHF has moved back down to test the 100 hour MA at the 1.0185 level (blue line in the chart above).  A break of the level should lead to a move to the low of the day (1.0159) and the bottom trendline area at the 1.0150 area.  If the level holds, the upside should now find intraday resistance at the 1.0207 which is the 100 bar MA on the 5 minute chart (blue line in the chart … [visit site to read more]

Merck Aims To Expand Gardasil

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 08:15 AM PST

Recently, Merck (MRK) submitted study data to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) related to the use of Gardasil in women in the age group of 27-45 years. Gardasil, one of the most significant products in Merck's portfolio received FDA approval in June 2006 for preventing cervical cancer and genital warts in females in the age group of 9-26 years.
 
However, Merck's vaccine segment has been witnessing pressure from lower sales of the cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil. While … [visit site to read more]

Video: LaBranche & Co. Soars After Sale To Barclay’s

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 08:08 AM PST

NYSE specialist LaBranche & Co. (LAB) has seen shares soar this session following the sale of it s NYSE Designated Market Maker business to Barclay’s for $25 million. … [visit site to read more]

SKM Outlines Smartphone Plan

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 08:00 AM PST

South Korea's wireless kingpin SK Telecom (SKM) plans to sell more than 2 million smartphones in 2010. The operator also divulged its plan of unvieling several new handset models, including smartphones based on Google's (GOOG) Android platform. This represents a part of the company's effort to boost its presence in the rapidly growing mobile data service market. SK Telecom exited 2009 with roughly 420,000 smartphone users. 

SK Telecom is expanding its handset portfolio to take … [visit site to read more]

Google’s Threats Put China Tech ETFs In Focus

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 08:00 AM PST

Google set off a frenzy on internet message boards and in the human rights community earlier this week when the search engine giant announced in a blog post that it had been the target of a "highly sophisticated and targeted attack on our corporate infrastructure originating from China" that was apparently carried out with the goal of accessing email accounts of Chinese human rights activists. Google has repeatedly clashed with the Chinese government in the past, but the most recent … [visit site to read more]

Weak Refining To Hurt Marathon

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 07:45 AM PST

Houston-based integrated oil major Marathon Oil Corporation (MRO) provided an interim update for the fourth quarter of 2009 (covering the first two months of the quarter). Recovery in crude oil prices and robust production is expected to benefit the company’s upstream segment. However, Marathon's downstream business will see lower refinery margin amid weak demand and higher crude oil input costs. The company plans to release its quarterly results on Feb 2, 2010. 

Recently, … [visit site to read more]

Video: NYSE Opening Bell Market Monitor: M, LAB, HSY

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 07:37 AM PST

The latest in news, commentary, and information on what’s moving the US equities markets. Watch this broadcast LIVE at 9:30 am EST daily @ “http://www.nyx.com/marketmonitor” … [visit site to read more]

Video: Asian Markets Mixed As Hang Seng Drops

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 07:35 AM PST

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropped this session while the rest of the major Asian/Pacific markets were on the upside. … [visit site to read more]

Alnylam Pharma Guides

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 07:30 AM PST

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ALNY) recently provided an update on its key pipeline, scientific and business goals for the next 12 to 18 months coupled with financial guidance for 2010. 

Alnylam, which focuses on developing novel therapeutics based on a biological breakthrough known as RNA (Ribo Nucleic Acid) interference (RNAi), intends to advance ALN-RSV01 to a new mid-stage trial for treating respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Alnylam expects to start enrolling patients for the … [visit site to read more]

Stryker Reports Preliminary Results

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 07:15 AM PST

Stryker Corporation (SYK) reported preliminary revenue results for the fourth quarter and full fiscal 2009. For the fourth quarter, net sales were $1,834 million, an increase of 6.8% year over year. Excluding a favorable foreign currency translation (FX), net sales increased 2.5% year over year. 

For full fiscal 2009, net sales were $6,723 million, an increase of 0.1% year over year. Excluding an unfavorable FX, net sales increased 1.7% year over year. Stryker will report full fourth … [visit site to read more]

Forex Trading: EURUSD Breaks Floor Support At 1.4458 BUT Bounces Back Higher

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 07:15 AM PST

The price fell to a low of 1.4446 but bounces back higher. This market is definitely a tough nut to crack!
A move back down is still a possibility but the failed breaks in EURUSD, USDCHF and the move back above the 100 day MA on the GBPUSD has got traders off guard for sure and cautious.  USJPY remains offered, however.
Trading times are not easy.
PS. USDCAD moves back to new lows for the day and approach … [visit site to read more]

Forex Trading: USDCAD Breaks Through 1.0291 Floor And Falls. 1.0251 Eyed.

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 06:31 AM PST

The USDCAD has broken through the 1.0291 floor level and fallen.  The level has been a key level we have been watching and the failure yesterday afternoon and today to move above the 100 hour MA (blue line) has forced the market lower.   The next level to break on the bearish highway, comes in at the 1.0251 which is the low from January 11th.  A break of that level looks toward the 2009 low close of 1.0234 and the low price of 1.0205 (see chart … [visit site to read more]

Forex Trading: USDCHF Tests The Topside Trendline Of Bear Flag And Holds

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 06:19 AM PST

The USDCHF has been forming a bear flag over the last 4 trading days.  The holding of the top trendline level keeps the formation alive for a potential break. I would expect that sellers will continue against the level with a move below the 100 hour MA at 1.0190 currently (blue line above), confirming a move down to the lower trendline boundaryat around 1.0150 level. 
If the price breaks above the upper trendline,  a move toward the 200 hour MA at the 1.0253 is likely (green … [visit site to read more]

This Could Crush Stock Market Valuations

Posted: 14 Jan 2010 05:00 AM PST

By Porter Stansberry

By now, most every DailyWealth reader knows the argument for higher interest rates.

Simply put, the U.S. government is facing a staggering amount of unfunded liabilities in 2010… around $3.5 trillion to be exact. As I described in my commentary on the Greenspan/Guidotti rule, the only way the government can make the interest payments on this debt (a good deal of which has been acquired in the past 12 months) is by printing money.

This money printing will continue to … [visit site to read more]

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