Apr 5, 2010

Daily Markets - Financial News And Opinions

Daily Markets - Financial News And Opinions

Singapore Stock Market: Our Focus For Today Is On Offshore And China Sector

Posted: 05 Apr 2010 06:16 PM PDT

Morning Highlights
Our Focus For Today Is On Offshore and China Sector
Singapore market reacted positively to overnight Wall Street gains, with STI up 6.31 points at 2974.69. The other Asian markets are also expected to track on the upside.
U.S. major averages all closed in positive territory, at their best closing levels in well over a year, but with light volume, after releasing the strongest jobs report in three years along and better than expected news from the housing and service … [visit site to read more]

Foreign Markets Surge Again: What You Can Do To Profit From Them

Posted: 05 Apr 2010 06:01 PM PDT

Martin here with a quick follow-up to last Monday’s “The Great Dichotomy! Again!”

While U.S. markets have gained a bit more in the last few days, the key foreign markets I told you about have literally catapulted higher.

So now they’re outperforming the Dow by an even wider margin. Indeed, since the beginning of last year, while the Dow is up 20.9 percent …

China’s blue chips, up 39.1 percent, have beat the Dow by nearly two to one …
South Korea’s leading … [visit site to read more]

March ETF Data: Back In The Black

Posted: 05 Apr 2010 05:16 PM PDT

After a sluggish start to the year, the ETF industry picked up the pace in March, as strong performances from global equity markets and a wave of fresh cash inflows sent industry asset levels soaring. According to data compiled by IndexUniverse.com, total ETF assets stood at nearly $821 billion at the end of March, and total inflows for the month exceeded $20 billion. That brings total 2010 cash flows back into the black, after huge outflows in January (the majority of them attributable to … [visit site to read more]

Robert Reich: “No Jobs Recovery”

Posted: 05 Apr 2010 05:01 PM PDT

Where is the jobs growth? If we listen to many in Washington or the general media, Friday’s employment report (indicating +162k in non-farm payroll) was a turning point in our labor markets. Was it really? Let’s listen to former Labor Secretary Robert Reich and get his take.

Although I have a decidedly different point of view than Reich on many economic and political topics, I do believe that Reich speaks from his heart and presents what he believes is the truth as opposed to … [visit site to read more]

DOD Vs. DIA: A Better Dow Jones ETF?

Posted: 05 Apr 2010 04:03 PM PDT

When reporting on the performance of the U.S. stock market, everyone from the Wall Street Journal to local anchormen generally refer to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, one of the oldest and most widely-recognized stock benchmarks. So it's not surprising that one of the most popular ETFs available to U.S. investors is the Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA), a fund that tracks the storied blue chip benchmark. DIA has about $8.5 billion in assets and an average daily volume of more than … [visit site to read more]

Before The iPad, There Was The iWheel …

Posted: 05 Apr 2010 04:01 PM PDT

Source: Nate Beeler, April 3, … [visit site to read more]

PSCo Plans To Buy Calpine Assets

Posted: 05 Apr 2010 03:53 PM PDT

Public Service Company of Colorado (PSCo), a subsidiary of Xcel Energy Inc. (NYSE:XEL), has agreed to buy two Colorado power plants of Calpine Corporation (NYSE:CPN) for $739 million. The two power plants near Denver currently provide power to PSCo under power purchase agreements.

The plants to be purchased are the 621-megawatt Rocky Mountain Energy Center located near Hudson, Colorado and the 310-megawatt Blue Spruce Energy Center located in Aurora, Colorado. Collectively the 931 MW plants provide … [visit site to read more]

CarMax Clears Estimates

Posted: 05 Apr 2010 03:37 PM PDT

CarMax Inc. (NYSE:KMX) showed a net income of $48.8 million or 26 cents per share (excluding special items) in the fourth quarter of its fiscal year 2010 ended February 28, 2010 compared to $38.5 million or 17 cents per share (excluding special items) in the same quarter a year ago. With this, the automotive retailer has inched past the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 25 cents per share.

CarMax's results were driven by improved customer traffic and sales execution along with successful reduction of … [visit site to read more]

Breakout Momentum And A Delayed NFP Reaction Carries Crude To New Highs

Posted: 05 Apr 2010 03:25 PM PDT

A strong open to the new week for capital markets after an extended holiday weekend would encourage a strong performance from crude oil. The third consecutive advance for this benchmark commodity has established remarkable momentum at fresh 17-month highs.
North American Commodity Update
Commodities - Energy
Breakout Momentum and a Delayed NFP Reaction Carries Crude to New Highs
Crude Oil (LS NYMEX) - $86.68 // $1.81 // 2.13%
A strong open to the new week for capital markets after an … [visit site to read more]

Crucial Time For Cell Therapeutics

Posted: 05 Apr 2010 03:20 PM PDT

April is crucial for Cell Therapeutics (CTIC), as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decides on the approvability of pixantrone by April 23, 2010. The company is seeking approval of its lead candidate, pixantrone for the treatment of relapsed or refractory aggressive non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (NHL) in patients who have not responded to other treatment options.

However, we are not quite optimistic about the product gaining approval. Last month, the FDA's Oncologic Drugs Advisory … [visit site to read more]

Mutual Manipulation

Posted: 05 Apr 2010 03:15 PM PDT

- Front page headline on Friday's Wall Street Journal proclaimed a big up-tick worldwide in the manufacturing sector.
According to the paper, everybody is making more and more stuff.  This helps assure that the recovery "has legs."
Auto sales, too, came in stronger than expected in March.  So it sounds like the recovery has wheels too.
What we want to know: does it have a brain?  Who's buying this stuff and where are they getting the money?
At least the economic model of … [visit site to read more]

Rating Action On Tower Group

Posted: 05 Apr 2010 03:03 PM PDT

Last week, rating agency A.M. Best affirmed the ratings of Tower Group Inc. (NASDAQ:TWGP) and its subsidiaries. The ratings action includes the affirmation of issuer credit ratings (ICR) of "bbb-” on Tower Group Inc.

A.M.Best views favorably the acquisitions made by Tower Group over the last few years, enabling the company to diversify its business mix. The acquisitions made last year — CastlePoint, Hermitage and Specialty Underwriters Alliance — have helped the company to expand outside the … [visit site to read more]

BHP Billiton Is Poised To Pick Up Big Gains On The Back Of A Global Commodities Bull

Posted: 05 Apr 2010 03:01 PM PDT

Face it, commodity prices are in a secular rally - and there are three big reasons why.

Loose Monetary Policy
Growing Demand in Emerging Markets
And the Congruent Devaluations of Major CurrenciesWe’ve already profited from this inflationary trend in the Money Map VIP Trader.  And - just like I did with the broadband revolution - today I am presenting you with a stock that stands to benefit from these developments - BHP Billiton Ltd. (NYSE:BHP).

First, let’s talk about policy. … [visit site to read more]

Inflation Meter Soars Over The Red Line

Posted: 05 Apr 2010 03:00 PM PDT

There has been a lot of discussion around here lately about inflation, mostly about who is divided up into the "We're freaking doomed!" camp (me), and who isn't in that camp, but instead are over in the other camp, which is, apparently, mostly everybody else, all of whom I consider to be morons who think that because the government, which has every reason to lie and whose entire history is the deplorable story of one government lie and corruption after another, says that prices are only … [visit site to read more]

Huge RNAi Breakthroughs!

Posted: 05 Apr 2010 02:58 PM PDT

- Once again, huge scientific news has disrupted my plans. Last week, I put off giving you additional news on the quest for an Alzheimer's disease cure as well as some fascinating and related data on the health benefits of coffee. The reason, as you know, was that two companies in our portfolio announced truly historic breakthroughs in stem cell science.
Remarkably, the same basic thing has happened again. This last week, three major scientific developments were announced regarding progress … [visit site to read more]

Reliant Energy Gets $20M Grant

Posted: 05 Apr 2010 02:49 PM PDT

NRG Energy Inc's (NYSE:NRG) retail electricity business, Reliant Energy, has received a $20 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to develop and deliver innovative energy solutions for Texas electricity customers. As a part of the contract, Reliant Energy plans to expand the rollout of smart energy solutions, using the smart grid technology, to Texas residents.

Reliant is the only competitive electricity provider in Texas to have been selected to receive a grant through … [visit site to read more]

Labor Pains

Posted: 05 Apr 2010 02:42 PM PDT

- Last Friday, the Labor Department informed the nation that the U.S. economy added 162,000 jobs in March – the biggest gain in three years.
That's goods news, of course…but not as good as it might appear. For one thing, newly hired Census workers contributed about 30% of the gain. These folks will be unemployed by summer. For another thing, the "underemployment rate" – which includes part-timer workers and people who want work but have given up looking – increased to 16.9 percent … [visit site to read more]

U.S. Auto Sales Hit 7-Month High

Posted: 05 Apr 2010 02:30 PM PDT

Light vehicle sales in the U.S. auto industry surged 24.3% to 1.07 million units (10.8 million units at seasonally adjusted annual rate) in March 2010. This was driven by an aggressive incentive policy adopted by the safety-recall hit Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE:TM) to woo back its lost customers, pent-up demand from the winter storms affected February, economic stability and a weak comparable month (March 2009) mired in U.S. recession.

In absolute terms, this is the best month since August last … [visit site to read more]

Daily ETF Roundup: VXX Slides, UNG Gets An Unusual Boost

Posted: 05 Apr 2010 02:20 PM PDT

Equity markets got a boost on Monday after Friday's jobs report lived up to the hype, sending the Dow near the key 11,000 level. Investor focus now turns to an upcoming earnings season and Federal Reserve meetings, likely to be carefully scrutinized in coming months. Apple stock got a lift after the company said it sold about 300,000 iPads on the first day the product was available.
The ETFdb 60 Index, a benchmark measuring the performance of asset classes available through ETFs, climbed 5.65 … [visit site to read more]

Hospira Settles Patent Dispute

Posted: 05 Apr 2010 02:12 PM PDT

Hospira (NYSE:HSP) has reached an agreement with Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE:SNY) to settle a patent dispute for the US sales of oxaliplatin injection, a generic version of Sanofi-Aventis’ Eloxatin.

Per the settlement, Hospira will not sell oxaliplatin injection in the US until June 30, 2010. However, the drug can be re-launched on Aug. 9, 2012.

Hospira has been involved in a patent litigation with Sanofi-Aventis for the past few months. Although Hospira received a favorable decision in August 2009, the … [visit site to read more]

Tax Deadline Approaches: Bring Us Back To 1913

Posted: 05 Apr 2010 02:01 PM PDT

Page 1 of the original IRS 1040 form from 1913 appears above. There were only four pages total including all forms and instructions, view it here). In contrast, just the current 1040 instructions, without any forms, runs 175 pages.

Individual income tax rates started at 1% in 1913, and the maxiumum marginal income tax rate was only 6% on incomes above $500,000 ($11 million in today’s dollars). The personal exemption was $3,000 for individuals ($66,000 in today’s dollars) and … [visit site to read more]

FITB Joins Western Union’s Network

Posted: 05 Apr 2010 01:59 PM PDT

Last week, Western Union Co. (NYSE:WU) announced the completion of its previously announced service offering through Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB).

Western Union entered into an agreement with Fifth Third Bank last year to provide money remittance service to its customers. The service will be open across all the 1,300 bank locations of Fifth Third in 12 states. Western Union will provide the remittance services through Cash-to-Cash, Account-to-Cash and Account-to-Account. The rollout of this … [visit site to read more]

Video: NYSE Closing Bell Market Monitor: ARD, HOG, AXP

Posted: 05 Apr 2010 01:53 PM PDT

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

Redpoint Sitting In The Sweet Spot

Posted: 05 Apr 2010 01:42 PM PDT

Last month, Zacks Small-Cap Research initiated coverage of Redpoint Bio (RPBC) with an Outperform rating and $0.50 price target. Despite the low stock price, we believe that Redpoint is poised for a major breakout based on several key drivers in 2010. 

An All-Natural Sweetener

From our point of view, there are three near-term shots on goal, one of which could result in sizable upfront payments to Redpoint.

The first is the licensing of RP44, which Redpoint's disclosed in January … [visit site to read more]

Rogers Downgraded To Neutral

Posted: 05 Apr 2010 01:26 PM PDT

We downgrade our recommendation for Rogers Communications Inc. (NYSE:RCI) to Neutral as a result of increased competition in the Canadian wireless market. Canadian wireless rates are among the highest in the world. In a bid to improve service and prices through competition, the Canadian federal government has licensed four new operators. Out of this four, Globalive — which will use the Wind Mobile brand — intends to offer service in most of the country.

Canadian cable TV segment is also getting … [visit site to read more]

Harry Winston’s 4Q Loss Narrows

Posted: 05 Apr 2010 01:08 PM PDT

Harry Winston Diamond Corp. (NYSE:HWD) reported fiscal 2010 fourth-quarter results after the closing bell on Thursday. The company posted a narrower net loss of $3.6 million, or 4 cents per share, compared to a net loss of $73.0 million, or $1.19 per share in the year-ago quarter, which included an impairment charge of $93.8 million. However, the result came in behind the Zacks Consensus Estimate for a profit of 10 cents per share.

Toronto-based Harry Winston is a specialist diamond enterprise … [visit site to read more]

Pacifying The Panda: U.S. Companies Must Take A New Approach To China

Posted: 05 Apr 2010 01:01 PM PDT

There’s no question about what kind of profit opportunities the Chinese market offers. Moreover, the willingness of U.S. companies to partner with China in the pursuit of profit is equally blatant.

So why is it that more U.S. businesses feel less welcome in China now than they did four years ago?

The fact is that in the past four years, China’s economy has continued to grow by leaps and bounds, while a humiliating financial collapse and soaring debt have tarnished much of the shine … [visit site to read more]

FTI Consulting Expands In Asia

Posted: 05 Apr 2010 12:50 PM PDT

On April 1, FTI Consulting Inc. (NYSE:FCN) announced the acquisition of Baker Tilly Hong Kong Business Recovery Ltd. (BTHKBR), a Hong Kong based forensic and litigation consulting company. Post the acquisition, BTHKBR will be merged with the Forensic and Litigation Consulting segment of FTI Consulting in Asia. Moreover, BTHKBR will now be known as FTI Consulting (Asia) Ltd. However, the terms and value of the deal remain undisclosed. 

The acquisition of BTHKBR is expected to be a strategic … [visit site to read more]

The Iron Ore Market: A New Pricing System Ushers In The End Of An Era

Posted: 05 Apr 2010 12:36 PM PDT

For decades, mining iron ore was exceedingly unglamorous.
But beginning in the early 2000s, China's vast steel needs began to transform all of that. Prices began to soar, and all of a sudden, the industry lost its stigma.
As that happened, people began questioning the annual pricing system that served as a benchmark for forty years. And so they came up with a new way of doing business.
Ditching the yearly contracts and long negotiations set in place since the 1960s, miners and steelmakers … [visit site to read more]

APD Extends Offer For ARG

Posted: 05 Apr 2010 12:35 PM PDT

Industrial gas producer Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) has extended the expiration date of its tender offer for all outstanding shares of Airgas Inc. (NYSE:ARG). Air Products' latest offer stands at $60 per share − all in cash − and has been extended from April 9 to June 4, 2010. Airgas is a supplier of specialty gases and welding and other related equipment. 

Air Products has been chasing smaller rival Airgas since February 2010, when it launched a hostile bid of $5.12 billion. … [visit site to read more]

China Fire’s Encouraging Outlook

Posted: 05 Apr 2010 12:20 PM PDT

China Fire & Security Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFSG) reported results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended Dec 31, 2009. 

Earnings 
During the quarter, China Fire reported a net income of $2.9 million, down from $6.8 million in the same period of 2008. EPS for the quarter was 10 cents versus 24 cents in the fourth quarter of 2008. EPS was also below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 17 cents. 

Revenues decreased as a result of the delay in signing the $92 million contract with … [visit site to read more]

UNG Surges On Natural Gas Reporting Overhaul

Posted: 05 Apr 2010 12:14 PM PDT

The first quarter of 2010 has not been kind to investors in the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG), which has seen shares repeatedly touch new lows as a medley of still weak demand, surging supplies, and–of course–contango in natural gas futures markets. The fund finished the first quarter down nearly 30%, with the majority of that loss coming last month (see How UNG Lost 20% In March). UNG's steady slide has been attributable to a number of factors, but chief among these has been … [visit site to read more]

Break Up The Banks

Posted: 05 Apr 2010 12:13 PM PDT

A fight is brewing in Washington – or, at the least, it ought to be brewing – over whether to put limits on the size of financial entities in order that none becomes "too big to fail" in a future financial crisis.
Some background: The big banks that got federal bailouts, as well as their supporters in the Administration and on the Hill, repeatedly say much of the cost of the giant taxpayer-funded bailout has already been repaid to the federal government by the banks that were bailed … [visit site to read more]

Stock Buy: 99 Cents Only Stores

Posted: 04 Apr 2010 10:00 PM PDT

99 Cents Only Stores (NYSE:NDN) continues to trade near its 52-week as the results from its 2008 “Profit Improvement Plan” reverse a multi-year decline in income. The company’s Q4 results from early February included a 40% earnings surprise.
Company Description
99c Only Stores sells consumer products through its retail stores for 99c or less in the United States. The company was founded in 1965, operates more than 279 stores and has a market cap of $1.13 billion.
In 2008, after a few tough years … [visit site to read more]

FX Options Weekly Outlook

Posted: 04 Apr 2010 03:00 PM PDT

Jason Ayres, founder of OptionSource.net, provides a look a head at this week’s FX activity. … [visit site to read more]

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