Feb 1, 2010

Daily Markets - Financial News & Opinions

Daily Markets - Financial News & Opinions

Looking To The Future: The Case For Commodity ETFs

Posted: 01 Feb 2010 08:31 PM PST

There are few trends that those in the know are predicting to be in place 10, 20 or 30 years from now (with the odd pause for breath), but thanks to a fast-growing global population, commodity exchange traded funds (ETFs) are the exception.

As developed nations seek a better lifestyle and emerging economies continue to grow and gain wealth, commodity demand could rapidly climb. Frank Holmes for U.S. Global Investors explains that rapid urbanization and industrialization, better … [visit site to read more]

It’s Not The 1930s Again - It’s Not Even Close

Posted: 01 Feb 2010 07:21 PM PST

From Brian Wesbury and Robert Stein:
Since the financial turmoil began, many analysts, investors and pundits have fretted about a repeat of the Great Depression. However, it’s important to put things in perspective. Real GDP fell for four consecutive years (and by a total of more than 25%) between 1929 and 1933. Unemployment reached 25% (see chart above). Nothing today even comes close. GDP is now rising and we expect unemployment has peaked.

The reason the Great Depression became … [visit site to read more]

Will Taiwan Arms Sale Ground Boeing?

Posted: 01 Feb 2010 07:01 PM PST

Roughly $400 billion in revenue would be a heavy price to pay for selling 12 missiles to Taiwan, but that potentially is what The Boeing Co. (BA) is facing as China continues to fume over U.S. arms sales to the renegade island.

The Obama administration last week approved a $6.4 billion weapons deal with Taiwan. The deal, which was brokered by the administration of George W. Bush in 2001, included UH-60 Black Hawk military helicopters and additional Patriot PAC-3 missile defenses, but not … [visit site to read more]

Video: The Day Ahead: U.S. Pending Home Sales

Posted: 01 Feb 2010 07:00 PM PST

The stories, data, and stocks that may have the greatest impact during the next trading session. … [visit site to read more]

More Insider Trading In Wall Street?

Posted: 01 Feb 2010 06:01 PM PST

Profit over principle. Where does one draw the line?

I worked with some incredibly sharp individuals on Wall Street.

In fact, two individuals with whom I worked were banned from casinos in Vegas because of their ability to count cards. While casinos do not appreciate card counters, I would not include that skill as a negative in my thoughts about their personal character. To be perfectly frank, both of these individuals were gracious, charitable, and professional. The overwhelming … [visit site to read more]

Another Huge V-Sign Of Economic Recovery: ISM Hits 5 1/2 Year High

Posted: 01 Feb 2010 05:33 PM PST

More from Brian Wesbury and Bob Stein:
If this isn’t a V-shaped recovery, we don’t know what is. Today’s ISM Manufacturing report blew away consensus expectations, surging to the highest level since 2004. The increase in
the ISM shows that the strong real GDP growth of late 2009 was not some kind of one-off inventory-related fluke, but is continuing into 2010. According to the Institute for Supply Management, which publishes the ISM report, an overall index reading of 58.4 … [visit site to read more]

Fiscal Stimulus In A Real Depression

Posted: 01 Feb 2010 04:00 PM PST

America's president proposes a tax credit to businesses that take on new employees. We never met a tax cut we didn't like. This one is no exception. It lowers the cost of labor, making it easier to hire and pay people. So far, so good.
But is Mr. Obama proposing to cut government spending also? Not really. He's pretending that the feds can have their cake and eat it too…that they can forgo the income given up by the tax credit…and yet, still spend it.
How is that possible? It's not. … [visit site to read more]

Cartoon: Please Give Me A Job

Posted: 01 Feb 2010 03:01 PM PST

Source: Jeff Stahler, Comics.com. January 29, … [visit site to read more]

Investing In Natural Gas: The Most Important Source In The World

Posted: 01 Feb 2010 03:00 PM PST

Until just three years ago, the Marcellus was an obscure name for an obscure rock formation in the backwaters of geological research. Not anymore…
The tipping point came when Penn State professor Terry Engelder demonstrated that the Marcellus holds as much as 500 trillion cubic feet of natural gas – the equivalent of total US gas consumption for 25 years. There's over a trillion dollars' worth of gas down there – probably much more. Even if the estimate is off by 50% or so (and that … [visit site to read more]

Daily ETF Roundup: GDX, UNG Lead Surge

Posted: 01 Feb 2010 02:55 PM PST

The major story on Monday came out of Washington, where president Obama released a highly-anticipated $3.8 trillion budget that raises $2 trillion in taxes and cuts spending on dozens of federal program. The controversial budget sets the stage for months of debate and horse trading on Capitol Hill. Elsewhere, the U.S. factory sector recorded its best performance in more than five years and Exxon impressed analysts with its latest earnings report.
The ETFdb 60 Index gained 10.50 points, or 1.1%, … [visit site to read more]

The Worst Corporate Failure Of 2009 Revealed

Posted: 01 Feb 2010 02:00 PM PST

It is said that the only two certainties in one's life are death and taxes. You might, through some clever accounting and creative domiciling, mitigate the curse of the latter but, so far as we know, nobody escapes the grave. Empires…pop divas…authors of books starring Holden Caulfield; on a long enough timeline, we're all reduced to fleeting moments in the imagination of another time. As Jim Morrison once famously observed, "No one here gets out alive."
But we are not here today to … [visit site to read more]

Indian 3G Auction Postponed Again

Posted: 01 Feb 2010 02:00 PM PST

More bad news for telecom operators and 3G hopefuls in India as the country's much-delayed 3G spectrum (radio airwaves) auction has been postponed again and is not likely to commence until August-September 2010. This represents the fourth postponement over the last year. The 3G WCDMA spectrum auction (scheduled for January 14, 2010) was deferred to mid-February 2010 in late 2009 due to lack of available spectrum.
India's Department of Telecommunications ("DoT”) is working closely with the … [visit site to read more]

An Unsustainable Gap

Posted: 01 Feb 2010 01:57 PM PST

To the bulls, news that personal spending was up four percent in December on a year-over-year basis, even though personal income only just managed to eke into the black (+0.5 percent for 2009), indicates the consumer is (still) alive and kicking.
In fact, it wouldn’t be surprising if some analysts noted the similarity between the current trend of those two data series and what we witnessed almost three decades ago, when a dramatic burst of consumption kicked off the economic boom of the 1980s … [visit site to read more]

Expansion For Glaxo’s Tykerb

Posted: 01 Feb 2010 01:43 PM PST

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) recently announced that it has received accelerated approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the use of Tykerb (lapatinib) as a first-line treatment for women with metastatic breast cancer in a new combination regimen.
With this approval, Tykerb can now be used in combination with Novartis' (NVS) Femara (letrozole) for the treatment of postmenopausal women with hormone receptor positive metastatic breast cancer, which overexpresses the HER2 … [visit site to read more]

Video: NYSE Closing Bell Market Monitor: XOM, AA, HUM, BSX

Posted: 01 Feb 2010 01:37 PM PST

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]

Initiating Target As Neutral

Posted: 01 Feb 2010 01:25 PM PST

We have recently initiated coverage on Target Corporation (TGT) with a Neutral recommendation and a target price of $53.00, as we anticipate it to perform in line with the industry.
Target's strategic initiatives should help drive comparable-store sales and operating margins in the long term. We expect the company to gain market share, and believe that increased focus on consumable items will boost sales and earnings in a sluggish retail environment. Target now tends to focus more on store … [visit site to read more]

China Is Still King Of The Gold Hill

Posted: 01 Feb 2010 01:00 PM PST

China produced over 300 tons gold in 2009, a new world record in output. Already, for the past three years, China has been the world's largest producer ahead of South Africa, and now the massive nation is also on the verge of becoming the world's leading gold consumer.
According to Reuters:
"China's gold output jumped 11.34 percent to a record of 313.98 tonnes in 2009, the China Gold Association said on Thursday, securing the country's position as the world's largest producer of the … [visit site to read more]

Silver - Bounce Off 16.00 Support Level

Posted: 31 Jan 2010 09:45 PM PST

Price action last week on spot silver, a daily chart of which is shown, broke down below a rough head & shoulders pattern neckline as well as key support in the 16.70 price region. At the end of last week, price had reached the noted downside support target of 16.00, approaching the bottom support border of a key parallel uptrend channel. With a good bounce to begin this new week, silver has tentatively respected the 16.00 support level. Short-term upside resistance on this bounce … [visit site to read more]

Analyst Interviews: Medical Devices Stock Review

Posted: 31 Jan 2010 09:00 PM PST

The global medical devices industry is fairly large, with annual worldwide sales in excess of $200 billion. The U.S. accounts for approximately 41% of this market. The industry is divided into different categories such as Cardiology, Oncology, Neuro, Orthopedic, Aesthetic Devices, Healthcare IT, etc.
We recommend companies providing life-sustaining products to investors in the medical devices space. These companies provide a strong recurring stream of revenues as patients are unable to forego … [visit site to read more]

Singapore Stock Market Update For Monday 01 February

Posted: 31 Jan 2010 05:23 PM PST

Morning Highlights
STI opens flat at 2742.23. Our stand stays at neutral, observing further on market's movement for today.
Do expect choppy session for the next few days.
Datas For The Week

U.S. Personal Income and the January ISM Manufacturing release tonight on 01/02/10. Pending Home Sales in December scheduled on tomorrow at 02/02/10. U.S Consumers' Confidence level and Job Numbers on 03/02/10. Change. Lastly, January Non-Farm Payrolls will be out on 05/02/10.

The European Central … [visit site to read more]

FX Options Weekly Outlook

Posted: 31 Jan 2010 02:00 PM PST

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