Did the S&P just wake up or something ?
Comments »Monthly Archives: August 2011
John Hussman: We Are Entering a New Recession
“I began drafting this update in a fairly measured way, but on further reflection, I think it is time to be blunt. The economic evidence now suggests that the U.S. and the global economy are again entering recession….”
Comments »S&P Downgrades Insurance Sector
Biggest ETF Winners (2 weeks)
No. Ticker 2-week Return
1 TVIX 125.06
2 DRV 71.29
3 ERY 70.84
4 BXDC 67.94
5 MWN 67.08
6 SRTY 65.82
7 TZA 65.30
8 SOXS 62.46
9 LHB 62.22
10 FAZ 55.30
11 EDZ 54.69
12 VIIX 54.29
13 YANG 54.19
14 VXX 53.62
15 VIXY 53.44
16 BGZ 51.17
17 SMN 48.67
18 SKK 48.52
19 SPXU 48.24
20 DPK 47.58
21 SICK 47.19
22 TYP 44.45
23 MZZ 43.57
24 SIJ 43.09
25 DUG 43.01
Rumor Has It: SocGen and UniCredit are About to Kick the Bucket
Commodity Trader Peter Brandt: The bear is just waking up and is hungry. The bull is not in hibernation – it is dead and buried!
Today’s Biggest Losers
min mkt cap: $1bill
No. Ticker % Change Market Cap
1 ZOLL -27.59 1,340,000,000
2 VHC -20.40 1,100,000,000
3 BAC -17.75 82,790,000,000
4 KWK -16.17 2,010,000,000
5 DAN -14.18 1,960,000,000
6 GNW -14.01 3,330,000,000
7 DRYS -13.49 1,120,000,000
8 KOG -13.40 1,040,000,000
9 FSL -13.32 2,530,000,000
10 EXXI -12.54 1,980,000,000
11 MTW -12.50 1,420,000,000
12 ALU -12.32 7,680,000,000
13 LNKD -12.31 8,630,000,000
14 HCA -12.10 11,840,000,000
15 SD -12.07 3,100,000,000
16 BEXP -12.02 3,150,000,000
17 BC -11.85 1,590,000,000
18 SLM -11.81 7,290,000,000
19 DNDN -11.78 1,870,000,000
20 WLK -11.70 2,900,000,000
21 MPEL -11.64 6,680,000,000
22 WAIR -11.54 1,240,000,000
23 YNDX -11.48 9,960,000,000
24 CGV -11.45 3,880,000,000
25 ING -11.38 36,230,000,000
Recruiting Firm Challenger, Gray, & Christmas Predict Massive Lay Offs in the U.S.
Short term they are looking for a loss of 66k jobs. Longer term the picture does not get any brighter.
Comments »Moody’s explains US rating hold
Comments »Moody’s Investors Service explained Monday why it was sticking with its triple-A bond rating and negative outlook for the United States, setting itself apart from Standard & Poor’s, which downgraded the U.S. last week.
Moody’s said it expects the economy will improve and additional measures to reduce the budget deficit will be in place by 2013. The rating agency said this is why it reiterated its AAA rating for U.S. debt on Aug. 2, when the Senate agreed on a 10-year plan to reduce the deficit by more than $2 trillion.
But Moody’s said that its negative outlook, which it also assigned on Aug. 2, was due to political squabbling in Washington — the biggest potential threat to the bond rating.
“We expect the economic recovery will continue and additional budget deficit reduction initiatives will be put in place by 2013,” said Moody’s, in its report on Monday. “The political parties now appear to share similar deficit reduction objectives.”
But Moody’s also said, “However, the disagreement between the two parties over the means by which to achieve deficit reduction and the difficulties experienced in reaching a compromise on raising the debt ceiling highlight the risks of political polarization. This uncertainty is among the drivers of our negative outlook.”
Moody’s released this explainer three days after S&P downgraded the credit rating of the United States on Friday. S&P said that it wasn’t enough for lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to agree to raise the debt ceiling — that the U.S. also needed a “credible” plan to tackle long-term debt.
Greece bans shortselling
Comments »ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece on Monday banned short selling on the stock market for two months, after shares on the Athens Stock Exchange plunged to their lowest level in more than 14 years as financial markets were buffeted by worries over the U.S. economy following a downgrade of the country’s debt.
The bourse’s general index sank below the 1,000-point mark, closing down 6 percent at 998.24 — the lowest level since January 1997. Less than an hour after the stock exchange closed, the Capital Market Commission imposed the two-month ban on short-selling, which comes into effect as of Tuesday.
Short selling, a way of betting a financial asset will fall in price, typically involves traders selling borrowed shares in the hope of buying them cheaper later and profiting on the difference.
The commission said in a statement it took the decision “after taking into account the exceptional circumstances prevailing in the Greek market.”
It had imposed another two-month suspension of short-selling in April 2010, after a six day losing streak on the stock exchange. That ban had followed a downgrade of Greece’s credit rating.
Greece became the first EU country to seek an international bailout last year, when it saw its borrowing costs spiral out of control as investors doubted it could repay its debts. International creditors agreed last month to extend it a second bailout.
FLASH: Market Bounces 100 DOW Points Off Lows
only thing i could find was a tweet from Reuters FX community
Comments »Bond Markets Rally Despite Rating Worries
S&P Cuts Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
AIG Sues BoA for Fraud; $10 Billion Lawsuit
Safety Regulators Open Investigations Into Ford and VW
Upgrades and Downgrades This Morning
Upgrades
EOG – EOG Resources upgraded to Buy from Hold at Citigroup
ROSE – Rosetta Resources upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at BMO Capital
KO – Coca-Cola added to Conviction Buy List at Goldman
BA – Boeing added to Conviction Buy List at Goldman
PLD – ProLogis upgraded to Hold from Underperform at Jefferies
RBS – Royal Bank of Scotland upgraded to Neutral from Reduce at Nomura
UFS – Domtar upgraded to Neutral from Underweight at JP Morgan
WDR – Waddell & Reed upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Sterne Agee
BP – BP upgraded to Hold from Sell at Collins Stewart
CF – CF Industries target raised to $200 at Ticonderoga
AWAY – HomeAway initiated with an Overweight at JP Morgan
MHK – Mohawk upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Raymond James
CUB – Cubic upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan
MLM – Martin Marietta upgraded to Hold from Sell at Citigroup
PG – Procter & Gamble upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Bernstein
TJX – TJX added to Conviction Buy List at Goldman
AEE – Ameren upgraded to Hold at Wunderlich
Downgrades
VE – Veolia Environnement downgraded to Hold at Brean Murray
FFIV – F5 Networks ests and target lowered to $120 at ThinkEquity
BRCD – Brocade target lowered to $6 at Wunderlich
Comments »Gapping up and Down This Morning
Gapping up
Stress, heart break, HMY +2.4%, CYD +2.1%,QGEN +5.1%, EGO +4.5%, GFI +2.0%, ASX +1.1%AU +2.7%,
Gapping down
EMC -2.1%, X -5.5%, FFIV -6.9%, RIO -3.6%, RIG -3.6%, RDS.A -3.6%, VE -5.5%, LPS-3.6%, SIRI -10.1%, SDRL -9.8%, CEL -4.6%, RIO -3.6%, RIG -3.6%, RDS.A -3.6%, BRK.B -2.8%, NGLS -2.3%, HERO -15.6%, SDRL -9.9%, RIG -3.2%, RDS.A -2.7%, RBS -9%, ING -6.7%, RCL -8.0%, TZOO -7.7%, CNTY -6.8%, MGM -6.0%, DAL -6.0%, LVS -4.5%, BAC -5.4%, NTRS -0.8%, CHOP -0.6%, TSN -0.4%, RCL -9.6%, ALU -8.4%, MT -6.0%, VE -5.5%, F -4.7%, BAC -4.5%, BHP -4.5%, ERIC -4.4%, C -4.0%, AA -3.8%,
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In Play and On the Wires
The Blame Game
Frank blames the military for U.S. downgrade.
Kerry and a White House adviser blames the tea party.
Did anyone think to blame everyone ? We are here because we have voted incumbents into office time and again. We let them screw the citizen while they work hard for their corporate masters. Part of the corporate masters is the private banks of the non Federal Reserve.
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