Mar 9, 2010

Daily Markets - Financial News And Opinions

Daily Markets - Financial News And Opinions

Apache Starts Pyrenees Production

Posted: 09 Mar 2010 11:05 AM PST

Apache Corporation (NYSE:APA), through its subsidiary Apache PVG Pty Ltd, commenced oil production from the Pyrenees development. The Pyrenees development is located in production license WA-42-L in the Exmouth Basin offshore Western Australia.
Apache owns a 28.57% interest in the $1.7 billion Pyrenees development. BHP Billiton (NYSE:BHP) acts as the operator and owns the remaining interest.
Apache expects production from the Crosby, Ravensworth and Stickle wells in the Pyrenees to be brought on in … [visit site to read more]


Morgan Stanley’s Roach: US Unemployment Rate Actually At 11.5%

Posted: 09 Mar 2010 11:01 AM PST

The true unemployment rate in the United States is actually higher than we think - at 11.5%, said Stephen Roach, Asia chairman of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS).
“The (official) unemployment rate at 9.7% is distorted downwards by at least 3 million people who have simply given up looking for work and who have effectively taken themselves out of the work force for economic reasons,” Roach said on CNBC.
“For some bizarre reason, the US statisticians do not count these poor souls as unemployed. If you … [visit site to read more]

Are Sovereign Borrowers The Next Crisis Catalyst?

Posted: 09 Mar 2010 11:00 AM PST

Our little bull market is one year old today. Yep, that's right, just one year ago our little cherub came into the world… And my how it has grown!
Since touching a 12-year low on March 9, 2009, the Dow has bounced more than 61%. Over the same timeframe, the S&P 500 has soared 72% and the NASDAQ has jumped 84%. These eye-popping numbers could lead one to believe that all is right with the world…or at least that all is much better than it was one year ago.
But your editors are skeptical … [visit site to read more]

Forex Trading: EURUSD Back Below The 1.3605 Level

Posted: 09 Mar 2010 11:00 AM PST

The NY afternoon has seen the EURUSD continue to drift higher.  The price action took the price back above the 200 hour MA at the 1.3602 level and that led to a high print of 1.3615. The peak was well below the 100 hour moving average (blue line above) at 1.3631.  Now the price has dipped back below the 200 hour MA level once again, reversing the bias back down from the intermediate perspective at least (price is below 100 and 200 hour MA levels). 
From a shorter term … [visit site to read more]

DOW Divests Styron Business

Posted: 09 Mar 2010 10:49 AM PST

Dow Chemical Company (NYSE:DOW) has recently announced the divestiture of the Styron business to a private equity firm, Bain Capital, for a total of $1.63 billion. As a part of the sale agreement, Dow Chemical has an option to purchase 15% of the equity of Styron. The transaction, which is expected to close in August 2010, also includes several long-term supply and purchase agreements for Dow's downstream businesses.
The Styron businesses were part of the Basic Plastics and Performance Products … [visit site to read more]

Microchip Ups Offer For SSTI

Posted: 09 Mar 2010 10:32 AM PST

Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) announced that it has amended its agreement to acquire Silicon Storage Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:SSTI).
Silicon Storage is a global leader in embedded flash technology and in the licensing of these technologies. It has several other businesses including serial, parallel and specialty flash memories.
Under the revised terms, Silicon Storage shareholders would be entitled to receive $3.05 per share in cash compared to the previous offer of $3.00 per share … [visit site to read more]

Lack Of Hires, Not Too Many Fires

Posted: 09 Mar 2010 10:30 AM PST

The Labor Department released its Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) today for January. This survey does not get the same sort of attention that the employment report gets, mostly because it comes out well after the employment data does (we just had the February data released on Friday, and this is for January).
So why am I blogging about old news? Because the numbers in the employment report are the net between newly created jobs and jobs that have been lost. In any economy, be it … [visit site to read more]

GM To Reinstate 661 Dealers

Posted: 09 Mar 2010 10:16 AM PST

General Motors (GM) has decided to reinstate 661 of its U.S. dealers who had once been targeted for termination of franchise agreements. The restoration is intended to defend GM's market share at a time when auto sales are regrouping from the recent economic downturn.
Last year, as part of its restructuring, GM has revealed that it would not renew franchise agreements with about 2,000 dealers. However, on account of protests from the dealers, Congress passed a law last month requiring an … [visit site to read more]

Video: Market Movers: CSCO, T, S, AET, CI, TRV, ALL

Posted: 09 Mar 2010 10:15 AM PST

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

Video: Risk Aversion Rises As Equity Markets Silent

Posted: 09 Mar 2010 10:03 AM PST

Risk aversion continued to strengthen this session as US equity markets were trading flat. … [visit site to read more]

Is U.S. Residential Property A Good Buy?

Posted: 09 Mar 2010 10:01 AM PST

The chart below, the Affordability Index of US residential property, comes courtesy of the New Observations on Real Estate, Mortgages & Life blog. The Index is computed by factoring in home prices, mortgage rates and income.
Let’s have an open thread and discuss in the comments section whether this represents a buying opportunity, or is it a question of fools rush in where wise men fear to buy? Click on “Comments” below the heading of this post and share with me your views on whether … [visit site to read more]

McDonald’s Sales On The Rise

Posted: 09 Mar 2010 09:59 AM PST

McDonald's Corporation's (NYSE:MCD) comparable sales are on the rise. After climbing 2.6% in January 2010, comparable sales rose 4.8% in February, led by sales growth in Europe and Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa (APMEA) segments.
However, sales in the U.S. remain weak amid heavy job losses, economic conditions, and the discount war amongst fast-food chains to lure budget-constrained consumers.
The company, which faces stiff competition from Burger King Holdings Inc. (NYSE:BKC), … [visit site to read more]

Championing Stimulus And The Economics Of “Surprisingly Normal”

Posted: 09 Mar 2010 09:55 AM PST

If you don't read the newspapers you run the risk of missing something. Of course, if you do read them, you run the risk of catching something.
Not much in the financial news worthy of comment this morning…
The Dow gained $13. Gold lost $13. Nothing much to say about it…
So we will comment on something beneath comment…something so low we have to dig down to find it…something so unworthy we hardly imagine we are mentioning it…something in the newspapers…
We're talking, of course, … [visit site to read more]

Thermo Fisher Acquires Finnzymes

Posted: 09 Mar 2010 09:47 AM PST

Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. (NYSE:TMO) recently completed the acquisition of Finnzymes. Financial terms of the agreement have not been disclosed. The acquisition is not expected to have any material impact on the company's financial results in fiscal 2010.
Finnzymes is a Finland-based provider of integrated tools for molecular biology analysis, including reagents, instruments, consumables and kits. The company generated revenues of $20 million in fiscal 2009.
The Finnzymes acquisition will … [visit site to read more]

Survey: 43% Of US Workers, Retirees Have Under $10k Saved For Retirement

Posted: 09 Mar 2010 09:45 AM PST

If you're worried about retirement you're not alone. A new survey out today shows that Americans are increasingly ill-prepared for retirement. US Workers are delaying their planned career end dates to instead focus on building just a basic nest egg. 
According to CNNMoney.com:
"The percentage of workers who said they have less than $10,000 in savings grew to 43% in 2010, from 39% in 2009, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute's annual Retirement Confidence Survey. … [visit site to read more]

AMB Aims At Mexico Pension Funds

Posted: 09 Mar 2010 09:43 AM PST

AMB Property Corp. (NYSE:AMB), a leading real estate investment trust (REIT), recently announced plans to offer a new commercial real estate fund in Mexico that aims to attract investment from private pension administrators, locally known as Afores. AMB had sought the permission of the Mexican stock exchange to list a fund and invite the nation’s 14 private pensions to place part of their $85 billion in combined assets.
The pension funds of Mexico have been recently deregulated to allow the Afores … [visit site to read more]

Ultra ETFs: Whether You’re Ultra-Long, Or Ultra-Short… Be Ultra-Careful

Posted: 09 Mar 2010 09:41 AM PST

Tuesday, March 9, 2010: Issue #1212
If you're looking for a simple, relatively safe, cost-effective way to diversify your portfolio, where's your first stop?
Many investors choose the exchange traded fund (ETF) route. With the explosion of the ETF market over the past few years (there are now around 800 ETFs available), you can gain exposure to countries, sectors, industries, currencies and more. And you can do so in one single stock transaction through a regular brokerage account.
When … [visit site to read more]

Pipeline Setback For Biogen

Posted: 09 Mar 2010 09:25 AM PST

Biotech company Biogen Idec (NASDAQ:BIIB) and Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche recently suffered a setback with one of their pipeline candidates, ocrelizumab, due to safety related issues.
Biogen and Roche announced that they have suspended treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients based on a recommendation issued by an independent Data and Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB).
Concerns regarding the safety of the drug were raised in October 2009, when a safety review of ocrelizumab in RA and lupus … [visit site to read more]

Toyota May Suspend Launches

Posted: 09 Mar 2010 09:09 AM PST

Toyota Motor (NYSE:TM) has revealed that it may halt new car launches this year if it is unable to be fully satisfied with correcting the accelerator problem that forced a mass recall of its vehicles. The cars that might be shelved include RAV4 2010, Auris 2010 and the Auris Hybrid.
However, the Japanese automaker is hopeful about regaining sales in North America in March after a sharp decline last month when the automaker suspended sales of 8 recalled models.
In January, Toyota suspended the sale … [visit site to read more]

Africa ETF: Ready To Surge?

Posted: 09 Mar 2010 08:58 AM PST

In recent months a great deal has been written regarding the wildly different recoveries underway in the world's developed and emerging economies. With the U.S. economy held in check by still mounting job losses and western Europe has facing a potential debt crisis, the world's developing economies have emerged as the primary drivers of global growth. Much of the attention has focused on the BRIC bloc of countries, but the relative success of emerging and frontier economies goes far beyond … [visit site to read more]

ProLogis To Buy Back Notes

Posted: 09 Mar 2010 08:52 AM PST

ProLogis (NYSE:PLD), a leading global provider of distribution facilities, recently launched a cash tender offer to buy back notes with outstanding principal totaling over $540 million. The offer includes 5.5% notes due Apr 2012 and 5.5% notes due Mar 2013, with approximately $281 million and $262 million in outstanding principal, respectively.
In addition to the accrued and unpaid interests, the consideration payable for the 2012 Notes is $1,062.50 per $1,000 principal amount, while that payable … [visit site to read more]

Forex Trading: GBPUSD Consolidates The Overnight Losses As London Exits For The Day

Posted: 09 Mar 2010 08:52 AM PST

The GBPUSD is consolidating the losses today as London looks to exit for the day. The price has moved higher during the NY session and has tested the 200 bar MA on the 5 minute chart currently at the 1.4989 level, but it seems to lose momentum against the level as the fundamental news out of the UK news was fairly negative today (Larger Trade Deficit, Fitch and Moody rating worries). 
We will continue to watch the 200 bar MA on the chart above for directionsal clues.  The high … [visit site to read more]

Honeywell Wins Shell Contract

Posted: 09 Mar 2010 08:35 AM PST

Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE:HON) announced that it has bagged a global five-year agreement to be a Main Automation Contractor (MAC) for Royal Dutch Shell (RDS-A). The Global Framework Agreement is part of Shell’s long-term MAC strategy to maximize production while lowering total operating costs by equipping its worldwide facilities with integrated process automation technologies.
 
As a MAC, Honeywell will design automation and safety systems that will help Shell meet its customers’ … [visit site to read more]

US Credit Rating: Who Will Be The First To Downgrade?

Posted: 09 Mar 2010 08:30 AM PST

During World War II, there was a saying, that, "loose lips, sink ships"… I think Greek Prime Minister, George Papandreou, should have taken those words to heart yesterday… You see, the currencies, led by the beleaguered euro (EUR), were rallying, and the single unit was nearing 1.37, when Papandreou made a statement that sunk the rally's ship… He said, "Greece's debt problems could soon spread to the rest of Europe and mean a weaker euro"
Now, that's just what the markets … [visit site to read more]

It’s All The Same Trade!

Posted: 09 Mar 2010 08:30 AM PST

One of the frustrating aspects about this market environment is that all assets look like the same trade. Betting on equities is a bet against bonds or vice a versa, betting on bonds is a bet against equities. It is that simple. Consequently, using a tactical asset allocation strategy makes it hard to diversify away my risk as I end up being all in on essentially what has become the same trade.

From my perspective, one of the best places to park my money would be in Treasury bonds as the … [visit site to read more]

Kroger Beats Zacks Estimate

Posted: 09 Mar 2010 08:27 AM PST

The Kroger Company (NYSE:KR) recently posted better-than-expected fourth-quarter 2009 results. The quarterly earnings of 39 cents a share surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 34 cents but fell 26.4% from 53 cents reported in the prior-year quarter.
The quarterly earnings topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 14.7%. In the third and second quarters of 2009, quarterly earnings missed the consensus by 25% and 11.4%, respectively.
The shares of Kroger are down 10 cents or 0.44% to $22.80 in … [visit site to read more]

Video: Burger King’s Same-Store Sales Slide

Posted: 09 Mar 2010 08:21 AM PST

Burger King announced Tuesday that comparable-store sales in the US & Canada fell 8.2% during the two months ending in February. … [visit site to read more]

3M In Acquisition Mode

Posted: 09 Mar 2010 08:13 AM PST

3M Company (NYSE:MMM) announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire MTI PolyFab Inc., a Canada-based manufacturer of thermal and acoustic insulating material for the airlines industry.
 
MTI PolyFab designs and manufactures a lightweight thermal and acoustic insulation system for a wide variety of airlines to block unwanted airborne and structure-borne noises in aircraft. MTI PolyFab's aerospace division designs and fabricates energy management systems from a variety of … [visit site to read more]

Video: NYSE Opening Bell Market Monitor: KR, MRK, HRB

Posted: 09 Mar 2010 08:08 AM PST

The latest in news, commentary, and information on what’s moving the US equities markets. … [visit site to read more]

Claymore Launches Three Wilshire ETFs (WFVK, WXSP, WREI)

Posted: 09 Mar 2010 08:05 AM PST

Claymore, the Chicagoland issuer known for its line of themed ETFs and targeted sector funds, has launched three new ETFs based on broad market indexes maintained by Wilshire. The new funds include the Wilshire 5000 Total Market ETF (WFVK), Wilshire 45oo Completion Index ETF (WXSP), and Wilshire U.S. REIT ETF (WREI).
Many investors are familiar with the Wilshire 5000 Total Market Index, a benchmark used to measure the performance of domestic equity markets. Originally named after the … [visit site to read more]

Forex Trading: USDCAD Testing The Low Level And Floor At 1.0259. Will We Bounce Again?

Posted: 09 Mar 2010 07:59 AM PST

The USDCAD moved sharply lower in NY trade as the dollar reversed and technical levels were breached adding to the selling pressure. There is no doubt the bias is down for the pair as tightening gets closer and higher oil prices (above $80) is becoming more comfortable.  This benefits the CAD$ and hurts the USDCAD pair.
The floor from yesterdays trade was 1.0259 until the price fell below to a new low of 1.0249. The price moved higher off the level - closing the hourly bar above … [visit site to read more]

The Ink Keeps Getting Redder

Posted: 09 Mar 2010 07:53 AM PST

The ink keeps getting redder. It’s not just America’s near term fiscal outlook that is deteriorating; the longer-term picture is also getting worse, as Econbrowser’s Menzie Chinn reveals in “Speaking of Unfunded Liabilities: Medicare Part D”:

The Financial Report of the United States Government, 2009 was released last week. Perusing the tables, one encounters the gigantic new, unfunded entitlement enacted in 2003, namely Medicare Part D.
From page 50 of the report:

Note the last line, … [visit site to read more]

Scientific Games Hires Executive

Posted: 09 Mar 2010 07:52 AM PST

Scientific Games Corporation (NASDAQ:SGMS) has announced that Ian Timmis will assume the role of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of its wholly owned subsidiaries − Global Draw Ltd. and Games Media − effective March 8, 2010. Mr. Timmis will report to Steve Frater who will continue in his role as Executive Chairman.
 
Mr. Timmis had previously held the position of Group General Manager, Corporate Development, at Aristocrat Leisure in Australia and played a key role in developing long term … [visit site to read more]

Raytheon Wins Air Force Contract

Posted: 09 Mar 2010 07:37 AM PST

Raytheon Company (NYSE:RTN) has been awarded an $886 million U.S. Air Force contract to develop a new aspect of the Global Positioning System (GPS), namely the Advanced Control Segment (OCX), which will improve the accuracy of information from GPS satellites.
 
Raytheon is also tasked to improve anti-jam capabilities and improved security, accuracy and reliability of the system. It will be based on a modern service-oriented architecture to integrate government and industry open-system … [visit site to read more]

Marsh & McLennan Auctions Kroll

Posted: 09 Mar 2010 07:19 AM PST

According to the Financial Times on Monday, Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc. (NYSE:MMC) has put up Kroll, its corporate investigations wing, for sale for approximately $1.3 billion (£864 million). The announcement has attracted many interested bidders such as Carlyle Group, Apax Partners, General Atlantic and BC Partners, along with a couple more trade bidders.
 
Ever since it had been bought by the company in 2004 for $1.9 billion, Kroll proved to be a poor strategic fit for Marsh & … [visit site to read more]

Video: Asian Markets Mostly Flat As Sensex Serves Up A Loss

Posted: 09 Mar 2010 07:14 AM PST

The major Asian/Pacific markets were trading relatively flat this session with the Sensex being the most active after sliding on weak results for Tata Motors. … [visit site to read more]
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