Mar 15, 2010

Daily Markets - Financial News And Opinions

Daily Markets - Financial News And Opinions

Baxter Posts Flu Vaccine Results

Posted: 15 Mar 2010 11:42 AM PDT

Recently, Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) announced data from a late-stage study for its flu vaccine candidate Preflucel. The candidate provided a 71% protection rate against all strains of the flu. Furthermore, the study revealed that the influenza vaccine resulted in a 78% protection rate against matching influenza strains. The results were presented at the International Congress on Infectious Disease (ICID) in Miami.
 
Baxter is collaborating with DynPort Vaccine Co. LLC, a wholly … [visit site to read more]


Integra Launches New Product

Posted: 15 Mar 2010 11:26 AM PDT

Integra LifeSciences Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:IART) recently launched a new product in the U.S., Integra Total Wrist Fusion System, a solution for wrist arthrodesis that is designed to provide fixation of the wrist while decreasing soft tissue irritation. The product uses the Surfix locking and dynamic compression technologies to provide an optimal balance of compression and stability.
The new product expands Integra's portfolio of upper extremity products. Integra Total Wrist Fusion System … [visit site to read more]

Eni Indicates Flat 2010 Upstream

Posted: 15 Mar 2010 11:10 AM PDT

During the presentation of the company’s 2010–2013 strategic plan, Eni SpA (NYSE:E) indicated flat 2010 upstream with an aim to grow production through 2013 at 2.5% CAGR (compounded annual growth rate), based on its oil price assumption of $65 per barrel. This is down from 3.5% in the 2009–2012 plan. ENI plans to bring 41 new fields online in the next four years.
Eni plans to invest €52.8 billion (approximately $72.3 billion) in 2010−13 time frame, an increase of 8% from the 2009−12 … [visit site to read more]

The Undeniable Wealth Potential Of Emerging Markets

Posted: 15 Mar 2010 11:00 AM PDT

A cool breeze blew in over our little island late this afternoon. The temperature is forecast to drop from a high of 90 degrees today to only 60 tomorrow. How quickly things can change…
But we're here to talk markets… If you took Friday off, you didn't miss much. The Dow nudged higher by a fraction of a percent. The NASDAQ and the S&P 500 remained, for all intents and purposes, unchanged. Gold slipped a bit over the past few days. After a failed run at $1,120 per ounce on Friday, … [visit site to read more]

Exxon Settles Deals For PNG

Posted: 15 Mar 2010 10:54 AM PDT

ExxonMobil Corp (NYSE:XOM) has finalized financing and sales agreements and said that it can now start developing a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Papua New Guinea (PNG).
Exxon has made a sales agreement with Osaka Gas Company and Tokyo Electrical Power Company of Japan, Taiwan's CPC and China's Sinopec (NYSE:SNP). Funding for this project will come from the co-venturers and through market-rate loans arranged with export credit agencies and commercial sources.
Investment for the initial … [visit site to read more]

Instead Of Limiting Forex Leverage, The CFTC Should Consider These Other Reforms

Posted: 15 Mar 2010 10:45 AM PDT

With all the recent discussions about the CFTC proposal to limit retail Forex leverage to 10:1, it appears that Congress is taking a closer look at the reasoning behind the proposed legislation. The overwhelming responses from both brokers as well as retail traders has been decidedly negative. Regulatory bodies outside of the U.S. will continue to allow brokers to offer in excess of 100:1 effectively knocking U.S. rules out of alignment with the rest of the world. The CFTC says their intent … [visit site to read more]

Medtronic Wins FDA Approval

Posted: 15 Mar 2010 10:38 AM PDT

Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE:MDT) recently received the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Neurological Devices Panel's approval for its Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) Therapy for Epilepsy. The DBS therapy can be used for treating epilepsy in patients who have continued seizures. This is an alternative to presently available epilepsy treatments.
The panel recommendation was based on data from SANTE (Stimulation of the Anterior Nucleus of the Thalamus in Epilepsy) clinical trial in the U.S. The trial … [visit site to read more]

Industrial Production Edges Up

Posted: 15 Mar 2010 10:33 AM PDT

Industrial Production
Despite the snow storms in February, the total industrial production of the country managed to edge up by 0.1% over January. This marked the 8th straight increase in the Industrial Production, but it was also the smallest since it started to increase.
Prior to June, total industrial production had declined for 17 of the previous 18 months, with seven of those months posting declines of more than 1.0% and including one month where production plunged 4.0%.
February marked a … [visit site to read more]

Forex Trading: USDCAD Keeps Below The 100 Hour MA

Posted: 15 Mar 2010 10:23 AM PDT

The USDCAD moved above the 1.0205-23 resistance but just could not get above the 100 hour MA at the 1.0233 (high reached 1.0230).  The market now stands between support at 1.0205 and resistance against the moving average level as the market continues to keep rallies underwraps in the USDCAD. The price has not closed above the 200 hour MA since March … [visit site to read more]

Ardea Loss Narrows, Rev Soars

Posted: 15 Mar 2010 10:17 AM PDT

Ardea Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ:RDEA) reported a fourth quarter fiscal 2009 net loss of $6.3 million or 34 cents per share as against a loss of $12.7 million or 82 cents in the year-ago quarter. This was mainly attributable to higher revenue recorded in the quarter. Analysts expected a loss of 28 cents per share.
 
Quarterly Results
 
Revenue in the reported quarter jumped to $8.25 million from $44,000 in the year-ago quarter. The increased revenues resulted from the recognition of a … [visit site to read more]

Lehman’s Possible Fraud “One Of The Greatest Crimes Ever”

Posted: 15 Mar 2010 10:15 AM PDT

After 15 months and 2,200 pages of writing, the Lehman Brothers report has been released. As expected, the details are pretty gruesome. It explains how Repo 105 transactions allowed Lehman to exchange illiquid assets for short-term cash loans in order to disguise the crumbling financial state of the firm in its last days. How bad were the lies?
Well, the report shows the transactions were not shown as loans. Instead, they were listed as sales… making Lehman's … [visit site to read more]

Without Transparency, Financial Regulatory Reform Gets A “D”

Posted: 15 Mar 2010 10:01 AM PDT

Bloomberg just provided a sneak peek at the Financial Regulatory Reform package to be proposed by Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) this afternoon. What are some of the highlights and my thoughts? Let’s navigate.

From the top down, and without being overly cynical, I am extremely concerned that this proposed financial regulatory reform is a reshuffling of deck chairs with increased powers for both the Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury. The very fears I voiced almost a year ago remain … [visit site to read more]

HP Faces Chinese Lawsuit

Posted: 15 Mar 2010 10:01 AM PDT

Renowned computer maker Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE:HPQ) is currently facing consumer complaints from numerous Chinese consumers. Around 170 Chinese consumers have jointly appealed to the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), a Chinese agency, involved in issues related to product quality, to look into the matter relating to the supply of faulty computers by HP. 

In the complaint, the consumers have requested that the product quality regulators … [visit site to read more]

An Impressive Résumé For Long-Term Indian Expansion

Posted: 15 Mar 2010 10:00 AM PDT

This weekend we went to a wedding reception in Mumbai.
There were beautiful women dressed in brightly colored traditional gowns. Men favored western business suits, but a few sported the outfits usually worn at Hindu weddings…with flowing, colored tunics, baggy white pants and little embroidered slippers.
These were the men and women who are leading the Indian economy in one of the most remarkable growth stories in economic history. India has been upstaged by China. The middle kingdom's … [visit site to read more]

Cephalon Ests Up On Guidance

Posted: 15 Mar 2010 09:46 AM PDT

Earnings estimates for Cephalon, Inc. (NASDAQ:CEPH) have gone up significantly following the issuance of a better-than-expected guidance by the company. Cephalon exited 2009 on a strong note with both fourth-quarter and full-year earnings exceeding expectations. Cephalon reported fourth-quarter earnings of $1.66 per share, up 13.7%, and full-year earnings of $6.03, up 25%. 

Top-line performance also remained strong with fourth quarter revenues increasing 6.5% to $575.1 million, and full year … [visit site to read more]

Forex Trading: EURUSD Stays Below The 100 Hour MA At 1.3668

Posted: 15 Mar 2010 09:45 AM PDT

The EURUSD is staying below the 100 hour moving average at the 1.3668 level since breaking earlier.  The high corrective price has moved up to 1.3667.  As long as the price can remain below this resistance level, the bias remains to the downside.  A move back above could see the price move back toward … [visit site to read more]

Mixed Future For FMC Tech

Posted: 15 Mar 2010 09:31 AM PDT

Last month, oil drilling equipment maker FMC Technologies Inc. (NYSE:FTI) announced its financial results for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, 2009. 

Results Beat Expectations 

For the fourth quarter, FMC Technologies reported earnings per share of 75 cents, a penny above the Zacks Consensus Estimate as well as the prior-year period. Results were helped by robust performance from its subsea oil and gas processing systems. However, revenue was down 3.7% year-over-year to $1.2 billion, … [visit site to read more]

Krugman: Out-of-Touch With Reality

Posted: 15 Mar 2010 09:28 AM PDT

Economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman has claimed there’s little reason to be concerned about trillion-dollar deficits and a parabolic run-up in the amount of money our government is borrowing.
As I explained in “Economists: Wrong Again,” that notion is utterly ridiculous. In fact, recent developments in Greece and elsewhere make it clear that reckless government spending and borrowing can have serious consequences.
Now, in his latest commentary, Krugman says we shouldn’t fear … [visit site to read more]

GSK Drug Gets EC Approval

Posted: 15 Mar 2010 09:16 AM PDT

GlaxoSmithKline Plc. (NYSE:GSK) recently received good news in the form of European approval for its oral thrombopoetin agonist, Revolade (eltrombopag). The European Commission (EC) granted marketing approval to the product for the oral treatment of thrombocytopenia or reduced platelet count in adults with the blood disorder chronic immune (idiopathic) thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). 

Revolade was granted marketing authorization in the European Union for the treatment of ITP in adult … [visit site to read more]

Video: Money Markets Volatile To Start The Week

Posted: 15 Mar 2010 09:14 AM PDT

The Forex markets experienced an active start to the trading session as relatively weak US economic data helped boost activity in the greenback. … [visit site to read more]

Yum!’s Buyback Program

Posted: 15 Mar 2010 09:00 AM PDT

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM), the operator of Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and KFC fast food chains, is actively managing its capital and returning much of its free cash to shareholders via share repurchases and dividends. 

The company's Board recently authorized an additional share repurchase program of $300 million to be completed in a year, following the authorization of a same-size program in September 2009.
 
In the period 2004 and 2009, Yum! had bought back shares worth $5.6 billion … [visit site to read more]

Kinross Eyes Underworld

Posted: 15 Mar 2010 08:45 AM PDT

Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC) is expanding its asset base in northwest North America by acquiring the North American exploration company, Underworld Resources. Kinross has agreed to acquire Underworld Resources in a deal worth C$139.2 million ($135.3 million). Toronto-based Kinross is offering 0.141 of a Kinross common share, plus C$0.01 in cash for every share of Underworld. The offer represents a value of C$2.62 a share, a 36% premium to Underworld’s closing price as on March 10. 

Kinross will … [visit site to read more]

Video: NYSE Opening Bell Market Monitor: WMT, PEP

Posted: 15 Mar 2010 08:33 AM PDT

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: Not So Great Start For Asian Markets

Posted: 15 Mar 2010 08:31 AM PDT

The major Asian/Pacific markets started off the new trading week on the downside with almost each index closing out the session in the red. … [visit site to read more]

Potash Corp. Guides Higher

Posted: 15 Mar 2010 08:30 AM PDT

Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan (NYSE:POT), the world’s largest fertilizer manufacturer, has recently raised its first quarter 2010 forecast. Potash Corp now expects its first quarter earnings to be in the range of $1.30 to $1.50 per share, above its prior forecast of 70 cents to $1 per share. 

The upward revision reflects a sharp rebound in potash demand, which is expected to drive a record quarter for North American sales volumes and strong offshore shipments, as well as … [visit site to read more]

Canadian Dollar: Caution

Posted: 15 Mar 2010 08:17 AM PDT

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

Australian Dollar: Rebound Expected

Posted: 15 Mar 2010 08:17 AM PDT

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

Bayer Downgraded To Underperform

Posted: 15 Mar 2010 08:15 AM PDT

We have recently downgraded our recommendation on Bayer (BAYRY) to Underperform from Neutral. During the fourth quarter of 2009, the company's core earnings per share came in at €0.90 surpassing €0.71 reported in the year-ago period. 

Bayer has been shifting its focus towards its HealthCare segment over the past few years in order to maintain solid growth in the long run. While we are pleased with the growth recorded by the HealthCare segment, we remain concerned about the … [visit site to read more]

Morning News Notes: 3/15/2010

Posted: 15 Mar 2010 08:07 AM PDT

The “Morning News Notes” as prepared by TL… USA and UK credit ratings, short term money rates rising, healthcare, and state and local government pension obligations.

Just click on the link or the coffee mug below.

“Morning News Notes”: March 15, … [visit site to read more]

Forex Trading: EURUSD Holds Resistance And Falls Toward 100 Hour MA Support

Posted: 15 Mar 2010 08:05 AM PDT

The 1.3708 level held the top as per the prior post and this has led to a move through key support at 1.3691.  The next target support comes in at 1.3666.  This is the 100 hour MA level and should find some additional intraday profit takers. A break targets the 200 hour MA at the … [visit site to read more]

JPMorgan, FDIC Resolve With WaMu

Posted: 15 Mar 2010 08:00 AM PDT

Washington Mutual Inc.'s [[WaMu]] 18 months long battle with the federal regulators, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) came to a resolution on Mar 12 whereby WaMu has agreed to accumulate about 6 billion as against the $20 billion to be collected from lawsuits, tax refunds and disputed cash deposits that were estimated by the shareholders of WaMu.

According to the terms of the resolution, fixed after the dispute between the WaMu, FDIC and … [visit site to read more]

JPMorgan, FDIC Resolves With WaMu

Posted: 15 Mar 2010 08:00 AM PDT

The bankrupt company, Washington Mutual Inc.'s [[WaMu]] 18 months long battle with the federal regulators, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) came to a resolution on Mar 12, whereby WaMu has agreed to accumulate about 6 billion as against the $20 billion to be collected from lawsuits, tax refunds and disputed cash deposits that were estimated by the shareholders of WaMu.
 
According to the terms of the resolution, fixed after the dispute … [visit site to read more]

Forget About ‘Black Swans’…

Posted: 15 Mar 2010 07:48 AM PDT

…if you think “black swans” are something to worry about, how about a black penguin?

“All-Black Penguin Is One-in-a-Zillion” (CBS)

Mutated Bird Spotted During National Geographic Journey to Antarctica
How big is a zillion? It’s “an extremely large, indeterminate number,” according to Dictionary.com.
And how rare is an all-black penguin, rather than the black-and-white tuxedo-like colorings on most of the adorable, big, wabbly birds?
It’s a one-in-a-zillion mutation, scientists say.
On a … [visit site to read more]

Greek Debt Crisis Continues To Hang Over The Euro

Posted: 15 Mar 2010 07:42 AM PDT

The dollar got a chance to shine a bit this morning in early European trading, snapping three days of gains for the euro (EUR). European finance ministers begin a two day meeting in Brussels this afternoon, but the German and French finance ministers damped speculation of a bailout for Greece. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble continues to insist that Greece must 'go it alone' and he was joined by French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde over the weekend. Both feel that 4.8 … [visit site to read more]

Forex Trading: GBPUSD Tests 100 Hour MA. Should Find Some Profit Taking Resistance

Posted: 15 Mar 2010 07:38 AM PDT

As per prior post, the GBPUSD is testing the 100 bar MA on the 5 minute chart.  The level comes in at 1.5086. The high reached 1.5086. Look for sellers against this level with stops on a move back above the 1.5090 level where the 38.2% of the move down from the high today comes … [visit site to read more]

Japan’s Currency Woes: Yen ETFs In Focus

Posted: 15 Mar 2010 07:25 AM PDT

With just two and a half months in the books, 2010 has already been an odd year from an investment perspective. A small European nation that accounts for just a fraction of global GDP has become a major driver of stock and bond markets around the globe, capable of setting off both buying and selling sprees with every new development. The financial sector, a laggard since its role in sparking the most recent recession, has surged higher, while utilities have been among the worst … [visit site to read more]

European Union Considering New EU Bonds To Bail Out Greece

Posted: 14 Mar 2010 10:30 AM PDT

It's been a busy week in Athens. First, some 60,000 Greeks marched through the streets in response to government austerity measures — spending cutbacks and tax increases. The demonstrators ended up leaving the public services in disarray, crippled without workers. Afterward, the riots started… police used tear gas and the mob threw stones and Molotov cocktails. You can see AP video coverage of the mayhem below.

In light of the chaos, not just in Greek streets, but also for its … [visit site to read more]
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