DOJ Sues AT&T For Fraudulent Billing

“US mobile operator AT&T has found itself the subject of a lawsuit filed by the United States over government claims that it improperly billed the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over its provision of Internet Protocol (IP) Relay services, theJustice Department announced today.

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ISSUE GAINERS                 SYMBOL   EXCH   LAST PRICE   MONEY FLOW    RATIO 
                                                          (in millions) 
Vantiv Inc                     VNTV    NYSE       19.05       +65.9       8.65 
UltraPro Short S&P 500         SPXU    ARCA        9.36       +33.2       8.88 
ExactTarget Inc                ET      NYSE       24.04       +25.7       2.29 
iShrs MSCI Emerg Mkts          EEM     ARCA       42.73       +23.1       1.70 
General Electric               GE      NYSE       19.88       +15.9       2.26 
JPMorgan Chase                 JPM     NYSE       44.85       +15.3       1.84 
Microsoft                      MSFT    NASD       31.84       +13.5       1.66 
Life Technologies Cp           LIFE    NASD       45.71       +13.1      12.20 
ConocoPhillips                 COP     NYSE       76.49       +13.0       2.04 
Freeport McMoran               FCX     NYSE       38.68       +11.3       1.48 
ExxonMobil                     XOM     NYSE       85.72       +11.2       1.45 
AT&T                           T       NYSE       31.74       +10.9       1.72 
iPath SP 500 VIX Mid Tm        VXZ     ARCA       49.73       +10.2       6.82 
Johnson & Johnson              JNJ     NYSE       64.55        +9.8       2.33 
Coca-Cola                      KO      NYSE       71.18        +8.8       2.14 
CME Group Inc.                 CME     NASD      295.25        +8.4       2.76 
LinkedIn Cl A                  LNKD    NYSE       97.00        +8.3       1.50 
Direxion Daily Sm Bull 3x      TNA     ARCA       60.69        +8.1       1.19 
Halliburton                    HAL     NYSE       33.41        +8.0       1.49 
Philip Morris Intl             PM      NYSE       86.59        +7.2       2.30 

ISSUE DECLINERS               SYMBOL   EXCH   LAST PRICE   MONEY FLOW    RATIO 
                                                          (in millions) 
Fifth Third Bancorp            FITB    NASD       14.06       -32.4       0.09 
Bank Of America                BAC     NYSE        9.71       -30.7       0.66 
McDonald's                     MCD     NYSE       96.26       -25.1       0.43 
Intel                          INTC    NASD       27.75       -12.6       0.35 
Chevron                        CVX     NYSE      105.80       -11.9       0.69 
Caterpillar                    CAT     NYSE      106.91       -11.1       0.76 
Google                         GOOG    NASD      644.24       -10.9       0.89 
Home Depot                     HD      NYSE       49.73       -10.6       0.37 
Procter & Gamble               PG      NYSE       67.36       -10.3       0.46 
Watson Pharma                  WPI     NYSE       66.63       -10.3       0.75 
Qualcomm                       QCOM    NASD       66.18        -9.9       0.55 
IBM                            IBM     NYSE      205.76        -9.4       0.73 
Wal-Mart Stores                WMT     NYSE       60.66        -9.0       0.37 
Wells Fargo                    WFC     NYSE       33.57        -7.9       0.70 
pricelinecom                   PCLN    NASD      707.09        -7.4       0.82 
iShrs Tr S&P 500               IVV     ARCA      140.42        -7.2       0.65 
Nike Inc                       NKE     NYSE      110.29        -6.9       0.51 
iPath US Trea 10-yr Bear       DTYS    ARCA       34.59        -6.8       0.01 
UnitedHealth Group             UNH     NYSE       54.03        -6.7       0.57 
Abbott Labs                    ABT     NYSE       60.13        -6.6       0.62

NYSE

New Highs 15 

COMPANY                       SYMBOL      HIGH                VOLUME 
-------                       ------      ----                ------ 
Amer Eagle Outfitters         AEO         17.08              776,289 
Chipotle Mexican Grill        CMG         418.05              97,984 
Dollar General                DG          46.95              956,772 
El Paso Corp                  EP          29.60            1,084,546 
Foot Locker                   FL          31.07              106,318 
Hels High Income Fund         HIH         8.72                 1,073 
Limited Brands                LTD         48.62              258,553 
Lubys Inc                     LUB         6.37                55,100 
Mindray Med Intl ADS          MR          33.39              162,942 
Pebblebrook Hotel Trust       PEB         23.75               86,276 
PPLUS 7.55% Tr Ctf FAR-1      PJS         25.58                5,012 
Sturm Ruger                   RGR         46.78              283,450 
SunTrust Bks Inc.Cl A Wt.     STI/WS/A    6.00                 9,292 
Virtus Glbl MultiSector       VGI         20.12                1,221 
YUM! Brands                   YUM         70.85              654,094 

New Lows 14 

COMPANY                       SYMBOL      LOW                 VOLUME 
-------                       ------      ----                ------ 
AngloGold Ashanti             AU          36.91              266,374 
AngloGold Ashanti Pfd A       AUpA        43.00                  431 
BlackRock Utility & Infr      BUI         18.20               24,339 
EldoradoGold                  EGO         12.75              394,410 
EmpreasDisCom                 EDN         3.73                 5,930 
Ferrellgas                    FGP         14.78              106,012 
General Steel Hldgs           GSI         0.90                11,379 
Gold Field ADS                GFI         13.54              667,162 
IamGold                       IAG         12.87              650,260 
Nationstar Mortgage Hldgs     NSM         13.02               68,475 
Pretium Resources             PVG         13.31               93,681 
RadioShack                    RSH         6.42               840,198 
STR Holdings Inc.             STRI        4.65                66,424 
Standard Register             SR          1.15                38,530

NASDAQ

New Highs 23 

COMPANY                       SYMBOL      HIGH                VOLUME 
-------                       ------      ----                ------ 
Athens Bancshares Corp        AFCB        14.94                  500 
Australia Acquisition         AAC         9.99                   150 
Bank of the James Finl        BOTJ        6.00                 1,780 
Bed Bath & Beyond             BBBY        66.72              255,139 
Calumet Specialty Prdts       CLMT        25.68               24,569 
Community Bancshares IN       CBIN        14.22                  600 
Coronado Biosciences          CNDO        10.00               15,325 
Cost Plus                     CPWM        16.00               93,214 
DISH Network  (Cl A)          DISH        35.64            1,636,579 
Dollar Tree                   DLTR        95.39              106,733 
First Fincl Northwest         FFNW        7.86                   550 
Firsthand Tech Value Fd       SVVC        32.73               14,884 
Galena Biopharma              GALE        3.54             9,200,336 
lululemon athletica           LULU        74.75            2,504,082 
Napco Security Systems        NSSC        3.10                   706 
Neteasecom                    NTES        58.95              139,606 
Ruths Hsptlty Gr              RUTH        7.33                63,069 
Smith & Wesson Hldg           SWHC        7.83             1,480,833 
Starbucks                     SBUX        54.57            1,236,507 
SurModics                     SRDX        15.73                6,122 
Synacor                       SYNC        7.31                91,880 
Ubiquiti Networks             UBNT        29.33               19,003 
Ulta Salon Cosmetics          ULTA        92.49               82,851 

New Lows 7 

COMPANY                       SYMBOL      LOW                 VOLUME 
-------                       ------      ----                ------ 
Anthera Pharmaceuticals       ANTH        2.77                64,624 
B Communications              BCOM        9.33                   160 
Cardiome Pharma               CRME        0.78               430,533 
Jiayuan.com Intl ADS          DATE        5.31                11,026 
Penson Worldwide              PNSN        0.82                48,953 
Primo Water                   PRMW        1.95               257,435 
Vocus                         VOCS        12.61               36,947

3D heat map

S&P A/D Lines

NASDAQ A/D Lines 

-CALLS- 
OPTION    EXP.DATE       STRIKE PRC.     VOLUME        LAST S/PRC.    NET CHANGE 
SLB        3/30/12          75.0000        5018            0.4100      up 0.0800 
BAC        5/19/12          11.0000        4270            0.2600      dn 0.0100 
AAPL       3/23/12         600.0000        2963            5.5200      dn 0.9300 
AAPL       3/23/12         610.0000        2279            1.5600      dn 0.6400 
VOD        4/21/12          27.0000        1830            0.8600      up 0.2100 
VOD        10/20/12         27.0000        1825            1.4900      up 0.1400 
AAPL       3/23/12         605.0000        1810            3.1000      dn 0.9000 
AAPL       3/23/12         595.0000        1571            8.6000      dn 0.8500 
ORCL       4/21/12          30.0000        1511            0.3100      dn 0.1400 
AAPL       4/21/12         600.0000        1269           22.9000      dn 0.1000 

 -PUTS- 
OPTION    EXP.DATE       STRIKE PRC.     VOLUME        LAST S/PRC.    NET CHANGE 
WLP        6/16/12          67.5000        6000            3.8000      up 0.3000 
WLP        9/22/12          62.5000        6000            3.2000      up 0.1500 
T          4/21/12          31.0000        2573            0.2900      up 0.0500 
AAPL       3/23/12         600.0000        2294            3.9500      dn 0.1100 
MHP        5/19/12          41.0000        2150            0.2000      dn 0.0500 
EWC        6/16/12          17.0000        1535            0.0500      dn 0.0500 
AAPL       3/23/12         590.0000        1514            1.1600      dn 0.2400 
PG         1/19/13          47.5000        1500            0.6400      up 0.0100 
AAPL       3/23/12         595.0000        1481            2.2500      dn 0.3200 
WLP        6/16/12          62.5000        1460            1.7500      up 0.2500 

 -VOLUME- 
 CALLS      PUTS           TOTAL 
306821    275454        582275

-CALLS- 
OPTION    EXP.DATE       STRIKE PRC.     VOLUME        LAST S/PRC.    NET CHANGE 
AAPL       3/23/12         600.0000         243            5.4500      dn 1.3500 
BAC        3/23/12          10.0000         231            0.0400      dn 0.0500 
BAC        4/21/12          12.0000         216            0.0500      dn 0.0100 
AAPL       3/23/12         595.0000         202            8.9000      dn 1.8000 
AAPL       3/23/12         605.0000         151            2.9500      dn 1.2300 
GLD        4/21/12         162.0000         151            1.6800      dn 0.4500 
EBAY       4/21/12          39.0000         121            0.5500      dn 0.0200 
AAPL       3/23/12         610.0000         115            1.5600      dn 0.9700 
AAPL       4/21/12         600.0000         103           22.8000      dn 0.4500 
GLD        4/21/12         161.0000          94            2.0400      dn 0.5300 

 -PUTS- 
OPTION    EXP.DATE       STRIKE PRC.     VOLUME        LAST S/PRC.    NET CHANGE 
HBAN       10/20/12          6.0000        3874            0.4300      up 0.0200 
AAPL       3/23/12         600.0000         296            3.8500      dn 0.2500 
X          4/21/12          31.0000         277            1.8100      up 0.5100 
GLD        3/30/12         155.0000         152            0.6500      up 0.3500 
GLD        3/30/12         158.0000         135            1.5600      up 0.7900 
AAPL       3/23/12         590.0000         134            1.0700      dn 0.4400 
GLD        3/30/12         152.0000         113            0.3300      up 0.1500 
BAC        4/21/12           9.0000         110            0.1900      up 0.0200 
GLD        4/21/12         156.0000         100            2.0400      up 0.6900 
AAPL       3/23/12         595.0000          87            2.1000      dn 0.3500 

 -VOLUME- 
 CALLS      PUTS           TOTAL 
13323    16703        30026

Scare tactics at its best…

Full report

Source

“President Barack Obama’s 2013 budget plan would raise taxes for 27 percent of U.S. households, far more than the administration estimates, according to a nonpartisan study.

The study comes from the Tax Policy Center, a research group in Washington that analyzes proposals from presidential candidates in both parties.

Obama focuses the tax increases in his 2013 budget on corporations and the top 2 percent of individual taxpayers. The result in the center’s study stems from the fact that taxpayers in all income brackets own parts of corporations…”

Read more: 

Source

Investors should enjoy 2012, as economic stimulus measures will prop up markets this year, an election year, but economies will tank in 2013 and in 2014 when they can no longer grow on ultra-loose monetary policies and government borrowing, says international investor Jim Rogers.

In the United States and elsewhere, central banks have cut interest rates to near zero and have flooded their respective economies with liquidity to spur more growth and hiring, policies that critics brand as printing money out of thin air.

“This is an election year in the United States, and a lot of politicians want to be re-elected,” Rogers tells Opalesque Radio.

On top of monetary policy, governments have run up debts via stimulus programs, widening fiscal deficits in the process.

Sooner or later, economies will have to mop up liquidity and pay down debts, which will result in economic contraction in a year or so.

So enjoy 2012, because growth and rising stock markets won’t last.

“The overall situation is getting much worse because the debt is going through the roof for all of us,” Rogers says.

“You should worry about 2013, you should be very worried about 2014, but this year, more or less, is not going to be so bad.”

Read more:  

Source

A March survey of fund managers by Bank of America Merrill Lynch reveals that many think money printing by central banks is coming to an end — and, for the first time since last July, that global profits are likely to improve.

“The conclusions you reach from it is that fund managers said that QE has worked; that central bank policy is working; that the fight against inflation is working to the extent that they don’t think it is needed any more,” Gary Baker, Head of European Equity Strategy at BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research, told CNBC.

“There are two stories: There is technology over in the far corner somewhere. And people could not be more in love with technology,” Baker said.

“The biggest change on the month is definitely in financials. That is a story that played through in Europe over the last few months and now the U.S. has caught up in that process.”

Twenty-eight percent of fund managers surveyed said they expect the global economy to strengthen in the next 12 months, up from 11 percent in February.

Nine percent of respondents said China’s economy will weaken in the next year, up from a net 2 percent in February.

“There is more of a general concern about inflation. It is very in keeping with their (Asian fund managers) views on growth,” Baker says.

Read more:  

Source

It used to be that Barack Obama had kind things to say about Republican Congressman Paul Ryan and his budget. He often called it a “serious proposal” even though he didn’t agree with it.

Not anymore. Ryan has updated the budget, and Obama is running against it.

Yesterday White House spokesman Jay Carney said that supporters of the Ryan Plan were “aggressively and deliberately ignorant” about the economy.

Now they are putting out this infographic, saying that the Ryan budget plan cuts benefits and programs for the middle class while giving an “average tax cut of at least $150,000” to millionaires and billionaires.

Take a look:

Full article

Full article

“Neiman Marcus Group Inc. (NMG/A), the luxury chain owned by Warburg Pincus LLC and TPG, said it will invest $28 million in a closely held Hong Kong e-commerce company in its first move into China’s luxury market.

Neiman Marcus plans to launch an e-commerce website in China with Glamour Sales Holding by the end of 2012, according to an e-mailed statement from the company today.

Karen Katz, who became CEO about 18 months ago, is turning to the world’s fastest-growing luxury-goods market to help the Dallas-based retailer recover its pre-recession sales volume. Besides the China venture, she has opened more U.S. stores, particularly discount outlets, and expanded the retailer’s social media marketing to attract younger customers….”

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HONG KONG (Reuters) – More than a decade after regulators moved to clean up the stock research industry at investment banks, analysts across the globe are as hesitant as ever to issue negative research on companies they believe are destined to struggle.

While so-called “Chinese walls” were set up after regulators and legal cases shed light on the role analysts and bankers played in inflating the 1990s technology bubble, research teams still appear conflicted between their conviction and their bank’s client list.

A mere 9 percent of analyst recommendations by investment banks and brokerage firms globally are a “sell” right now, based on 120,029 recommendations issued on nearly 17,000 companies, according to a Reuters study of StarMine data.

Ten years ago, sell orders jumped to nearly 20 percent after a series of rules were put into place to wipe out banker-analyst conflicts. It’s now back in the single digits, and in some cases headed to levels last seen in the 1990s.

“Research is associated, rightly or wrongly, with an organization and if somebody puts out a sell recommendation people don’t like that,” said David Baran, co-founder of Tokyo-based hedge fund, Symphony Financial Partners.

An analyst with a negative view on a stock will often prefer to keep that belief tight, fearing pressure from top bankers seeking business from the company or being shut out by its senior executives.

“In general it’s difficult for a lot of the analysts who could be negative or negatively biased on a company and expect to see them welcome at the next investor meeting or get access to the management,” said Baran.

Source

Ciena Corp. (CIEN) : The maker of fiber-optic networking equipment was rated buy in new coverage at Nomura International Plc.

Costamare Inc. (CMRE) fell 9.9 percent to $13.96. The Athens, Greece-based owner of container ships said it will sell 7.5 million shares in a secondary public offering, and may use the proceeds to acquire vessels and repay debt.

FuelCell Energy Inc. (FCEL) : The manufacturer of fuel- cell power plants said it will sell shares in a public offering without specifying the amount, and that it will use the proceeds for growth capital and general corporate purposes.

Herman Miller Inc. (MLHR) : The maker of ergonomically designed furniture reported third-quarter sales of $399.8 million, falling short of the average analysts’ estimate of $409.7 million.

Shoe Carnival Inc. (SCVL) : The footwear retailer forecast first-quarter sales of at least $219 million, exceeding the average analyst estimate of $207.3 million.

Sonic Corp. (SONC) dropped 3.7 percent to $7.75. The operator of drive-in restaurants reported second-quarter revenue of $115.1 million, missing the average analyst estimate of $116.8 million.

Gapping up

OXF +13.4%, RGR +11.1%, LUB +9.7%, SCVL +9.4%, SWHC +5.8%, RTN +1.4%,

DG +2.2%, POZN +22.9%, GALE +4.7% , DISH +6.6%, RTN +0.8% , WDC +1.5%

Gapping down

GOLD -13.9%, CMRE -8.7%, FCEL -8.5%, AVII -6.2%, SONC -5.6%, RIO -3.6%, MT -3.4%,

MLHR -3.2%, GRT -3.1%, BBL -2.7%, BHP -2.2%, INTU -1.9%, BP -1.7%, DMND -1.6%, HCP -1.1,

FCEL -10.2%, AVII -6.2% , GRT -3.1%,  CMRE -9.6% , GLNG -2.5% ,  MCD -0.7%,  FHN -2.1% ,

RAX-1.9% ,  NVO -2.6%,  FHN -2.1%, NLY -0.6%

In Play

On the Wires

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