Apr 6, 2010

Daily Markets - Financial News And Opinions

Daily Markets - Financial News And Opinions

Rising Gold Ignores Dollar Strength

Posted: 06 Apr 2010 05:40 PM PDT

I’ve not talked about gold for a few weeks because, frankly, it was too boring. Even now I’m finding it a challenge, so I’ve scaled up to the weekly chart to propose a contentious flag pattern.

This year the gold price has meandered between $1050-1150 (and that’s being charitable; for the most part $1085-1140 has been the limit). The past week has seen a detachment from Dollar strength, with gold rising $50 to $1134, and my technical indicators support a move higher. But is there anything to … [visit site to read more]

“Net Neutrality” Court Ruling Puts Telecom ETFs In Focus

Posted: 06 Apr 2010 05:19 PM PDT

In the ongoing battle between phone and cable companies and the FCC, it appears as if Comcast and its allies have won the latest round. The U.S. Appeals Court for the District of Columbia ruled in a 3-0 vote that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) lacks the authority to determine how Comcast and other Internet providers manage their networks. According to MarketWatch, the case stems from several incidents in 2007 in which the cable and internet provider blocked some subscribers from … [visit site to read more]

Are Chinese Stocks Heading Higher?

Posted: 06 Apr 2010 05:01 PM PDT

One of the big stories in 2010 has been the lackluster performance of China stocks. For an economy that is projected to grow by greater than 8% this year the underperformance is surprising. But a rising swell of bad publicity and bubble chatter has made many investors wary of buying into China stocks over the last couple of months.

But last week that began to change, at least in the short-term. Last week the Shanghai Composite index rose 3.2% as investors began to show interest in China … [visit site to read more]

Estate Planning – Funding The Buy/Sell Agreement Between Business Partners

Posted: 06 Apr 2010 04:01 PM PDT

Most people know that a will is an important piece to the estate planning jig-saw. As discussed in a previous article, a Buy/Sell Agreement is an important part to the larger Shareholders’ Agreement, which is also an important piece to the estate planning puzzle.

Buy Sell Agreement Between Business Partners

Let’s consider a company where there are 3 equal shareholders. It is currently valued at $1,000,000. The partners have agreed to details in a Buy/Sell Agreement whereby if a … [visit site to read more]

Nokia Losing Share In China

Posted: 06 Apr 2010 03:57 PM PDT

Nokia Corp. (NYSE:NOK), the largest mobile phone manufacturer of the world, is gradually losing its market share in China, the largest emerging market of the world. This country generates around 16% of Nokia's total sales.

In 2009, Nokia's revenue from China was $8.6 billion, remaining flat year-over-year. However, its market share in China reduced to 35% in 2009 compared to 40% in 2008.

Recently, Nokia received more than $2 billion of mobile handset shipment order from two Chinese … [visit site to read more]

AMB Leases Property In Mexico

Posted: 06 Apr 2010 03:42 PM PDT

AMB Property Corp. (NYSE:AMB), a leading real estate investment trust (REIT), has recently leased approximately 105,000 square feet of its development portfolio in Tijuana, Mexico. The lessee, Arauco Distribucion Mexico — the Mexican subsidiary of Arauco, a wood pulp and forestry enterprise in Chile — would occupy the space in AMB Pacifico Distribution Center 3 development project.

The current deal is the third such leasing agreement between the two companies. AMB had earlier leased 120,000 … [visit site to read more]

Goldman Invests In Level Global

Posted: 06 Apr 2010 03:25 PM PDT

On Apr 2, Bloomberg reported that Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS) has purchased a minority stake in Level Global Investors LP, a $4 billion New York-based global hedge fund founded and owned by David Ganek.

Through this acquisition, Goldman has added a hedge fund that can lay a wager on rising as well as falling stock prices globally. Given the current market volatility, this approach is highly risky but also a high-return-seeking initiative for the company.

Goldman has completed the … [visit site to read more]

Frontier-Verizon Deal Under Fire

Posted: 06 Apr 2010 03:09 PM PDT

Frontier Communications' (NYSE:FTR) impending acquisition of the rural fixed-line business of Verizon (NYSE:VZ) continues to face strong resistance, as the deal has been opposed by the workers' unions of West Virginia.

Nearly 50 members and leaders of Communications Workers of America ("CWA”) have protested the asset sale in West Virginia at the FCC headquarters in Washington D.C.

The CWA fears that the transaction is detrimental to the state's interest and may put Frontier in a severe … [visit site to read more]

U.S. Stock Market - Time For A Pullback?

Posted: 06 Apr 2010 03:01 PM PDT

The amazing stock market melt-up of 2009-2010 continues.

In a move that has even the Las Vegas bookies scratching their heads, the S and P 500 rose again yesterday. That makes it 27 out of the past 31 Mondays that stocks have closed in the green.

This is even more remarkable: The S and P has now gone 38 trading days without experiencing so much as a 1% pullback. That’s a measly 12-point decline from one day’s highest point.

Mr. Market has indeed become the hot shooter at the … [visit site to read more]

ObamaCare: No Cure For Government Spending

Posted: 06 Apr 2010 03:00 PM PDT

I know that I should write something about ObamaCare and the new health insurance law that is over 2,000 pages long to achieve a blatant socialist takeover of the healthcare and health insurance industries, and perhaps I should produce a short screed to show that I am up-to-speed on current events, even though (as my boss is fond of putting it) my "real" work is piling up on my desk, which would normally not be a problem, but now it is, and all because my last intern (whom I would normally … [visit site to read more]

Oil Maintains Its Bearing, Loses Momentum

Posted: 06 Apr 2010 02:53 PM PDT

It is an inevitability of all breakouts. Eventually, momentum will fade and a new or renewed trend will either settle or reverse. For crude, the aggressive rally over the past week was finally met with a day of rest. In fact, Tuesday's advance was the smallest since the commodity engaged its upswing.
North American Commodity Update
Commodities - Energy
Oil Maintains its Bearing, Loses Momentum
Crude Oil (LS NYMEX) - $86.820 // $0.20 // 0.23%
It is an inevitability of all breakouts. … [visit site to read more]

Fortune Brands Wins Legal Fight

Posted: 06 Apr 2010 02:53 PM PDT

Fortune Brands Inc. (NYSE:FO), a leading consumer brands company, recently received a favorable jury verdict against Jose Cuervo International, Inc. and its affiliates, relating to a trademark infringement of Maker's Mark, one of its premium spirits brands.

In its verdict, the jury has upheld that the red wax seal coating on Makers' Mark bottles and its unique design are valid trademark symbols and proprietary to Fortune Brands. Consequently, the jury asked Cuervo and its U.S. distributor, … [visit site to read more]

Forex Trading: Eur/Gbp Consolidating In A Triangle After A Rally.

Posted: 06 Apr 2010 02:47 PM PDT

Looking at this chart Eur/Gbp has been in a consolidation phase right after this huge rally from 0.6550 area to 0.9800. Right now it looks like this pair is getting ready to break out of this triangle; we have to see which side it breaks through before we can judge which direction the trend is going to be.

Taking a closer look at this chart we see the 100 week moving average coming in to play with the bottom of that trend-line and might offer a stronger support for the Eur/Gbp  around … [visit site to read more]

US Airways Traffic Declines

Posted: 06 Apr 2010 02:38 PM PDT

US Airways Group Inc (NYSE:LCC) announced on Monday that its March traffic measured by revenue passenger miles (RPM) declined 0.1% compared to prior-year levels. This was led by a 0.1% decline in mainline revenue passenger miles and 1.1% decline in the Express segment. The airline flew 5.08 billion miles in the reported month, down from 5.09 billion miles in the prior-year period.
 
Passenger load factor decreased 130 basis points to 82.6%. Capacity declined 1.8% from the prior year period to … [visit site to read more]

Cephalon Acquires Ception

Posted: 06 Apr 2010 02:22 PM PDT

Cephalon, Inc. (NASDAQ:CEPH) recently announced the completion of its acquisition of biotechnology company Ception Therapeutics, Inc. With this acquisition, Cephalon will gain access to Ception’s lead product, Cinquil (reslizumab), an investigational humanized monoclonal antibody (mAb) against interleukin-5 (IL-5).
Earlier this year, Ception reported positive results on Cinquil from a phase II study that was conducted in adults with eosinophilic asthma. Results showed that Cinquil improved asthma … [visit site to read more]

Daily ETF Roundup: UNG Slides, VNQ Rises

Posted: 06 Apr 2010 02:13 PM PDT

Equity markets stayed flat in Tuesday trading, while the 10 Year T-Bill yield slid below the 4% mark. While it was a relatively quiet day on the news and data front, the Fed minutes from the March 16th meeting were released, showing a "lingering concern about the U.S. economy's prospects, with policymakers indicating they were in no hurry to raise interest rates" according to Reuters. "The duration of the extended period prior to policy firming might last for quite some time and could … [visit site to read more]

Starwood On Expansion Spree

Posted: 06 Apr 2010 02:07 PM PDT

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. (NYSE:HOT) is on an expansion spree. Last week, the company opened its 1000th hotel, the Sheraton Qiandao Lake Resort, located on the shores of China’s Qiandao Lake. The lake is also known as the Lake of Thousand Islands.
Starwood is planning to open around 300 hotels in the next three to four years, most of them outside the U.S. The demand for hotels in the international market is greater than in the U.S., and the pace of recovery is particularly fast … [visit site to read more]

Know When Is The Right Time To Sell A Stock?

Posted: 06 Apr 2010 02:01 PM PDT

There’s one word in every stock market movie ever made that’s never uttered in a normal tone of voice. Never merely said, but rather shouted.

That word is SELL!

Indeed, no other word in the financial lexicon is so often associated with market uncertainty, investor fear, or in the worst case, outright panic . Truthfully, I can’t recall a single film in which the protagonist calmly decides to sell based on reasoned analysis.

Of course, that’s the case in movies because it makes for … [visit site to read more]

The Great Correction…Still Pending

Posted: 06 Apr 2010 02:00 PM PDT

For more than a year, the "recovery" bounce in the stock market has refused to give up. The indexes have recovered more than 50% of what was lost. Technically, they look pretty good. What's more, the S&P sells at more than 21 times normalized earnings, according to Robert Shiller's latest tally. It seems like nothing can stop stocks now.
Then there's the Treasury market. Overall, yields remain remarkably low. It is almost as if Treasury buyers are unaware that they are being asked … [visit site to read more]

Video: Toyota’s Prius Reigns Supreme In Japan Despite Recall Woes

Posted: 06 Apr 2010 01:58 PM PDT

According to the Japanese Automobile Dealers association, Toyota’s Prius hybrid vehicle remained Japan’s top selling car in March. … [visit site to read more]

AIG Ratings Affirmed By S&P

Posted: 06 Apr 2010 01:52 PM PDT

Last Thursday, the ratings of American International Group Inc. (NYSE:AIG) and its insurance subsidiaries were affirmed by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P).
S&P has affirmed the ‘A-/A-1′ counterparty credit ratings on AIG and its ‘A+’ counterparty credit and financial strength ratings on its insurance subsidiaries: Chartis and SunAmerica Financial Group. However, the outlook remains negative.
According to S&P, the counterparty credit ratings reflect the U.S. government’s … [visit site to read more]

Video: NYSE Closing Bell Market Monitor: STI, CA, MEE

Posted: 06 Apr 2010 01:50 PM PDT

The latest in news, commentary, and information on what’s moving the US equities markets. Watch this broadcast LIVE at 4:00 pm EST daily @ “http://www.nyx.com/marketmonitor” … [visit site to read more]

What The Fed Staff Really Thinks

Posted: 06 Apr 2010 01:42 PM PDT

Below are some key sections of the minutes of the Federal Reserve Board's March 16th meeting. I have interspersed my commentary and interpretation where needed.

“The information reviewed at the March 16 meeting suggested that economic activity expanded at a moderate pace in early 2010. Business investment in equipment and software seemed to have picked up, consumer spending increased further in January, and private employment would likely have turned up in February in the absence of the … [visit site to read more]

Santarus OTC Drug Launched

Posted: 06 Apr 2010 01:37 PM PDT

Santarus Inc. (NASDAQ:SNTS) recently announced the launch of the over-the-counter (OTC) version of its flagship product, Zegerid. OTC Zegerid is being promoted in North America by Merck's (NYSE:MRK) consumer health care subsidiary, Schering-Plough HealthCare Products Inc.
 
The product gained approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on December 1, 2009. The OTC version has been developed under Santarus' agreement with Merck whereby Merck gained exclusive rights for the … [visit site to read more]

FDA Panel To Review Daxas

Posted: 06 Apr 2010 01:21 PM PDT

The US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Pulmonary-Allergy Drugs Advisory Committee will be meeting on Apr 7 to review the efficacy and safety of Forest Labs’ (NYSE:FRX) Daxas (roflumilast), which is currently under review for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Documents released by the FDA indicate that there could be some concerns regarding the efficacy of the drug. The FDA noted that while Daxas achieved statistical significance in the clinical studies, the … [visit site to read more]

A. Schulman Misses View

Posted: 06 Apr 2010 01:06 PM PDT

A. Schulman Inc. (NASDAQ:SHLM) recently posted a fiscal 2010 second-quarter net loss of $6.8 million, compared to a loss of $10.5 million in the year-ago quarter. Excluding special items, adjusted earnings per share came in at 12 cents, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 11 cents as increased raw material costs exerted pressure on margins.
A. Schulman is an international supplier of high-performance plastic compounds and resins. These materials are used in a variety of consumer, industrial, … [visit site to read more]

Public Pension Ponzi Schemes

Posted: 06 Apr 2010 01:02 PM PDT

Making promises that can’t be kept.

Garnering support via payback if not kickbacks.

Effectively misrepresenting expected returns.

Am I talking about Bernie Madoff and every other con artist who has ever perpetrated a Ponzi scheme? No, although I could be. I am addressing the reality of the public pension system in our country. Those participating in public pensions can rail on me all they want. The simple fact is the power and leverage of the public unions combined with the … [visit site to read more]

Daimler To Join Renault-Nissan

Posted: 06 Apr 2010 12:51 PM PDT

France's Renault SA and its Japanese alliance partner Nissan Motor Co. (NASDAQ:NSANY) have agreed with Germany's Daimler AG (NYSE:DAI) to acquire mutual equity stakes that would add the latter to the alliance. Nikkei Business Daily reported that Renault and Daimler would exchange interests of about 3% with each other, while Nissan would enter a similar cross-shareholding arrangement with Daimler.
In December last year, Daimler and Renault announced plans to jointly develop small cars. The talks … [visit site to read more]

Textron Signs Supply Agreement

Posted: 06 Apr 2010 12:33 PM PDT

Textron Marine & Land Systems, an operating unit of Textron Systems, a Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT) company, signed an agreement with the Federal Defense Industries Inc. Per the agreement Textron will provide Cadillac Gage vehicle spare parts.
Textron Marine & Land Systems specializes in the design, production and support of advanced marine craft, armored combat vehicles, turrets and related subsystems. The company serves military and commercial customers domestically and internationally, and … [visit site to read more]

Toyota Prius Tops Japan Sales

Posted: 06 Apr 2010 12:17 PM PDT

Toyota Motor's (NYSE:TM) Prius hybrid has retained its position as Japan’s top-selling car in March despite the automaker’s global recall woes that involved braking problems with the popular hybrid.
According to Japan Automobile Dealers Association, more than 35,546 units of Prius were sold in March, making it the best-selling model for the 11th straight month. The association has also informed that the gas-electric hybrid led the fiscal year ended March 31, 2010 sales in Japan. Its sales … [visit site to read more]

Forex Trading: AUDUSD Moves Above 0.9257 And Pushes Higher

Posted: 06 Apr 2010 11:35 AM PDT

The ceiling at 0.9257 gave way (as per prior posts and videos) and the price has pushed higher.  The next target looks toward the 2010 high at 0.9228. The 2009 high came in at 0.9404. 
Support comes in at 0.9251. If the price moves back below this level, the market should see pressure with a move back toward 0.9217 trendline area a … [visit site to read more]

Video: Asian Markets Mixed As Nikkei Declines

Posted: 06 Apr 2010 11:33 AM PDT

The major Asian/Pacific markets were trading mixed this session following a slide in the Nikkei on heavy profit taking. … [visit site to read more]

Forex Trading: EURUSD Moves Above The 100 Bar MA

Posted: 06 Apr 2010 11:27 AM PDT

The EURUSD has moved above the 100 bar MA at the 1.3382 level. Look for support against this level with the next targets at 1.3394 (trendline), the 200 bar MA at 1.3402  and the 38.2% retracement of the day at 1.3408.  Bias short term has moved up off intraday.  There should be additional short covering … [visit site to read more]

Video: Risk Aversion Rises As Investors Await FOMC Results

Posted: 06 Apr 2010 10:22 AM PDT

Risk aversion strengthened this session as investors await the results of the FOMC minutes. … [visit site to read more]

Video: Market Movers: MEE, HTZ, RF, SLB, DG, DIS, KBH, PHM

Posted: 06 Apr 2010 10:17 AM PDT

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

Video: Crude Prices Rise Above $87

Posted: 06 Apr 2010 08:32 AM PDT

Front month crude prices continued to rise this session as investors await the details of the FOMC minutes. … [visit site to read more]

Video: US Airways Sees March Traffic & Capacity Decline

Posted: 06 Apr 2010 08:05 AM PDT

The US Airways Group Incorporated (LCC) said that both March traffic & capacity declined. … [visit site to read more]

Video: NYSE Opening Bell Market Monitor: T, HAL, GTN

Posted: 06 Apr 2010 07:55 AM PDT

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