Monthly Archives: March 2012
Italy Pays Morgan Stanley $3.4 Billion to Exit Derivative Interest Contract; The Shuffling of Tax Dollars to Wall St.
“When Morgan Stanley (MS) said in January it had cut its “net exposure” to Italy by $3.4 billion, it didn’t tell investors that the nation paid that entire amount to the bank to exit a bet on interest rates.
Italy, the second-most indebted nation in the European Union, paid the money to unwind derivative contracts from the 1990s that had backfired, said a person with direct knowledge of the Treasury’s payment. It was cheaper for Italy to cancel the transactions rather than to renew, said the person, who declined to be identified because the terms were private.
The cost, equal to half the amount to be raised by Italy’s sales tax increase this year, underscores the risk derivatives countries use to reduce borrowing costs and guard against swings in interest rates and currencies can sour and generate losses for taxpayers. Italy, with record debt of $2.5 trillion, has lost more than $31 billion on its derivatives at current market values, according to data compiled by the Bloomberg Brief Risk newsletter from regulatory filings.
“These losses demonstrate the speculative nature of these deals and the supremacy of finance over government,” said Italian senator Elio Lannutti, chairman of the consumer group Adusbef.
The transaction may prompt regulators to push for greater transparency and regulation of how governments use derivatives, said the head of the European Parliament panel that deals with market rules.
‘Need to Know’
“This latest revelation shows that we need to know a lot more,”Sharon Bowles, chairwoman of the economic and monetary affairs committee, said in an interview today. “I’m reluctant to have quite as many exemptions for central banks and countries” from transaction-reporting rules, she said….”
Comments »Today’s Industry Highlights
Today’s Industry Highlights via Yahoo Finance
| Top Performing Industries | % Change |
| Regional – Mid-Atlantic Banks | +2.38% |
| Foreign Money Center Banks | +1.31% |
| Processing Systems & Products | +1.20% |
| Advertising Agencies | +1.18% |
| Semiconductor Equipment & Materials | +1.11% |
| View Leaders & Laggards… | |
| Worst Performing Industries | % Change |
| Marketing Services | -9.60% |
| Appliances | -2.09% |
| Toy & Hobby Stores | -1.61% |
| Music & Video Stores | -1.55% |
| Manufactured Housing | -1.53% |
| View Leaders & Laggards… |
Today’s Money Flows
ISSUE GAINERS SYMBOL EXCH LAST PRICE MONEY FLOW RATIO
(in millions)
ExxonMobil XOM NYSE 86.29 +555.4 34.55
IBM IBM NYSE 206.92 +507.4 18.54
Chevron CVX NYSE 110.53 +346.5 15.90
Oracle ORCL NASD 29.97 +318.3 40.71
Johnson & Johnson JNJ NYSE 65.16 +269.3 36.87
Cisco Systems CSCO NASD 20.04 +265.8 22.71
JPMorgan Chase JPM NYSE 44.45 +254.6 8.11
Coca-Cola KO NYSE 69.88 +253.2 32.94
AT&T T NYSE 31.55 +248.7 37.62
Pfizer PFE NYSE 22.07 +222.8 25.20
Caterpillar CAT NYSE 113.73 +220.4 17.29
United Technologies UTX NYSE 86.01 +189.9 27.45
Bank Of America BAC NYSE 9.38 +187.2 2.49
3M MMM NYSE 89.68 +177.2 29.13
Berkshire Hathaway B BRK/B NYSE 81.19 +176.3 19.35
Merck MRK NYSE 38.22 +169.2 48.75
Citigroup C NYSE 36.41 +158.9 4.74
Boeing BA NYSE 75.32 +150.0 27.21
American Express AXP NYSE 57.09 +136.5 21.33
Home Depot HD NYSE 49.00 +135.6 19.81
ISSUE DECLINERS SYMBOL EXCH LAST PRICE MONEY FLOW RATIO
(in millions)
Apple AAPL NASD 581.31 -1393.4 0.39
Microsoft MSFT NASD 32.84 -635.8 0.03
Google GOOG NASD 622.08 -388.4 0.13
Intel INTC NASD 27.91 -351.5 0.04
Qualcomm QCOM NASD 65.34 -258.2 0.04
McDonald's MCD NYSE 97.73 -234.5 0.04
Wal-Mart Stores WMT NYSE 61.18 -185.2 0.03
Amazoncom AMZN NASD 183.19 -183.9 0.10
Philip Morris Intl PM NYSE 85.62 -182.1 0.02
Comcast CMCSA NASD 29.65 -167.3 0.02
Verizon Communications VZ NYSE 39.36 -163.6 0.04
Schlumberger SLB NYSE 75.69 -135.4 0.13
Amgen AMGN NASD 68.42 -131.7 0.02
ConocoPhillips COP NYSE 76.88 -127.3 0.06
Kraft Foods KFT NYSE 38.16 -123.5 0.03
Abbott Labs ABT NYSE 59.44 -118.4 0.06
iBoxx InvesTp Inv Grde Bd LQD ARCA 114.15 -109.4 0.06
Costco Wholesale COST NASD 90.94 -94.9 0.04
United Parcel Service B UPS NYSE 78.80 -93.6 0.03
Starbucks SBUX NASD 53.15 -93.1 0.06
Comments »
Today’s Heat Map and A/D Lines
Today’s 52 Week Highs and Lows
NYSE
New Highs 90 COMPANY SYMBOL HIGH VOLUME ------- ------ ---- ------ Abbott Labs ABT 59.56 2,800,615 Accenture PLC A ACN 63.98 1,061,691 Advance Auto Parts AAP 89.50 126,809 Airgas Inc ARG 85.22 121,531 Allergan AGN 94.45 560,099 Alliance Data Sys ADS 126.56 106,998 Allison Transmission ALSN 24.09 354,139 American Express AXP 57.32 3,056,037 Anheuser Busch BUD 72.31 349,335 Atlas Energy ATLS 30.26 444,256 Atlas Resource Ptrs ARP 28.45 157,998 BB&T Corp BBT 31.40 1,421,129 Ball Corp BLL 41.10 331,057 BorgWarner BWA 87.45 208,670 Cabelas CAB 38.42 217,730 Calpine CPN 17.25 225,541 Cantel Med CMN 23.70 35,983 Chipotle Mexican Grill CMG 409.77 85,606 Cummins CMI 129.00 645,069 Douglas Emmett DEI 22.42 74,395 Dycom Indus DY 23.79 68,864 EPAM Systems EPAM 17.26 80,703 Eaton Vance BuyWrite Opp ETV 13.31 80,577 F M C Corp FMC 100.86 137,315 Fair Isaac FICO 43.25 91,418 GP Strategies GPX 16.83 31,781 Gallagher AJG 36.33 184,731 WR Grace GRA 58.49 31,701 Gruma ADS GMK 10.40 6,032 Hels Advantage Inco Fd HAV 8.99 3,560 Helios Multi-Sec Inco Fd HMH 6.12 3,254 DR Horton DHI 16.45 1,407,701 Hubbell B HUB/B 79.50 77,315 IBM IBM 207.37 2,984,933 InvenSense INVN 21.72 550,926 Kansas City Southern KSU 74.98 279,992 Kennametal KMT 47.82 108,529 Kilroy Realty KRC 45.74 130,174 La-Z-Boy LZB 15.23 123,390 6.125% CorTS Am Gen Cap A XFP 21.50 7,062 Lennar Corp A LEN 27.07 623,198 Limited Brands LTD 47.80 559,286 MaquarieInfrastr MIC 32.45 34,949 Macy's Inc M 39.96 792,777 Manning & Napier MN 14.63 20,652 MarriottVacations VAC 27.75 34,049 Marsh & McLennan MMC 33.40 978,290 McKesson Corp MCK 88.02 409,932 Moody's Corp MCO 42.31 373,821 Nike Inc NKE 111.78 925,249 Nordstrom Inc JWN 55.36 311,456 PVH Corp. PVH 90.64 255,965 Philip Morris Intl PM 86.12 2,338,819 Pier 1 Imports PIR 18.15 200,292 Prestige Brands Hldgs PBH 17.55 143,957 Primerica PRI 25.87 60,921 Progressive Corp PGR 23.00 1,019,717 Prosperity Bancshares PB 46.95 120,912 Protective Life PL 29.91 163,846 PulteGroup PHM 9.69 1,114,057 Rackspce Host RAX 57.22 320,223 Raymond James Notes 2042 RJD 25.64 18,397 Rentech Nitrogen Ptrs LP. RNF 26.68 80,378 Roadrunner Trans Sys RRTS 18.59 29,193 Roper Indus ROP 99.79 221,374 SAP AG SAP 71.89 260,541 STRNS May Dpt Strs DKQ 25.35 8,600 Sherwin-Williams SHW 108.24 214,526 Simon Property Group SPG 142.12 448,157 SpectraEnergy SE 32.25 907,589 Stanley Black & Decker SWK 81.90 315,136 SYNNEX SNX 42.66 41,690 Target Corp TGT 58.95 1,183,451 Taubman Ctrs TCO 72.18 90,946 Teradata Cp TDC 68.93 377,066 Thai Fund Inc TTF 15.33 12,606 Toll Brothers TOL 25.00 509,502 Torchmark TMK 51.00 226,443 Total Sys Svcs TSS 22.83 257,453 Towers Watson TW 68.18 77,432 Toyota Motor TM 85.85 87,696 Tyco Intl TYC 53.73 688,036 U.S. Silica Holdings SLCA 20.23 105,441 United Parcel Service B UPS 79.13 1,412,648 US Bancorp USB 31.89 4,185,560 Valmont Indus VMI 117.44 37,350 Wabtec WAB 77.97 157,948 Wells Fargo WFC 34.13 10,527,492 Western Alliance Bancorp WAL 9.20 115,007 Xylem Inc. XYL 28.87 270,683 New Lows 6 COMPANY SYMBOL LOW VOLUME ------- ------ ---- ------ Alexandria RE Eqs Pfd E AREpE 24.64 17,897 BlackRock Utility & Infr BUI 18.60 25,281 Harmony Gold Mining HMY 10.99 319,117 Regency Ctrs Pfd REGpF 24.88 4,607 Standard Register SR 1.32 22,747 Transalta Corp TAC 19.32 9,350
NASDAQ
New Highs 74 COMPANY SYMBOL HIGH VOLUME ------- ------ ---- ------ ASML Hldg NV ASML 48.23 86,349 Acadia Healthcare ACHC 16.50 6,590 Allot Comm ALLT 21.25 55,814 Ameris Bancorp ABCB 12.81 50,279 Anika Therapeutics ANIK 12.65 30,532 BE Aerospace BEAV 48.09 155,976 Banner BANR 22.84 55,345 Bed Bath & Beyond BBBY 66.30 834,789 Brightcove BCOV 20.65 54,715 Builders FirstSource BLDR 3.97 116,255 Cadence Design Systems CDNS 12.44 542,026 Cerner CERN 78.14 512,898 Chart Industries GTLS 74.40 93,025 Cintas CTAS 40.29 230,703 Cirrus Logic CRUS 24.72 246,029 Credit Acceptance CACC 100.95 12,202 Diamond Hill Fincl Trends DHFT 10.84 3,437 Dynavax Techs DVAX 4.58 1,116,859 East West Bancorp EWBC 24.39 230,079 Exar EXAR 7.73 59,453 EZchip EZCH 43.45 24,814 First Tr ISE Cloud Comp SKYY 20.99 6,625 First Tr NASDAQ 100Tch Sc QTEC 28.51 2,270 Fresh Market TFM 49.25 48,232 Halozyme Therapeutics HALO 12.29 217,665 Henry Schein HSIC 76.47 240,672 IRIS Intl IRIS 12.20 31,048 InfoSpace INSP 13.79 141,287 Intel INTC 27.96 16,854,882 Intl Bancshares IBOC 20.70 138,335 Interval Leisure Gp IILG 16.99 72,688 J Alexanders JAX 9.00 22,100 Jive Software JIVE 25.79 35,432 Liberty Interactive A LINTA 19.43 907,982 lululemon athletica LULU 74.50 308,309 M/A-COM Tech Solutions MTSI 21.96 79,062 Microsoft MSFT 32.95 26,300,424 Middleby MIDD 103.75 35,285 NASDAQ Prem Inc & Growth QQQX 15.50 20,839 Orexigen Therapeutics OREX 4.78 285,582 Pacific Mercantile Bncp PMBC 4.74 4,200 Pacific Premier Bancorp PPBI 8.35 749 PacWest Bancorp PACW 24.79 60,830 Patrick Industries PATK 9.68 24,784 Pinnacle Fincl Partners PNFP 18.10 55,043 pricelinecom PCLN 662.25 211,105 Renewable Energy Group REGI 10.65 46,321 Ruths Hsptlty Gr RUTH 7.12 68,197 S&W Seed Co SANW 6.21 2,500 SBA Comm SBAC 50.44 165,909 SI Fincl Group SIFI 11.00 1,750 SS&C Techs Hldgs SSNC 22.34 100,109 Salix Pharmaceuticals SLXP 52.39 162,815 Signature Bank SBNY 64.62 125,956 Snyders-Lance LNCE 24.44 76,530 Southern Comm Cap Tr II SCMFO 7.70 8,759 Spectranetics SPNC 9.60 79,639 Starbucks SBUX 53.37 2,271,896 Susquehanna Bancshares SUSQ 10.01 601,832 Synopsys SNPS 30.88 208,349 TPC Group TPCG 46.59 35,872 Telular WRLS 9.05 11,996 Top Image Sys TISA 4.40 84,347 TriCo Bancshares TCBK 17.02 28,284 Trimble Navigation TRMB 54.75 199,450 UMB Fincl UMBF 46.00 55,704 Utd Bankshares UBSI 30.75 89,769 Unvl Busnss Pymnt Sol Acq UBPSU 9.44 1,675 Vanguard Russell 1000 VONE 64.51 100 Vanguard Russ 1000 Growth VONG 67.55 784 WPP Group PLC (ADS) WPPGY 67.00 12,211 West Coast Bncrp (Oregon) WCBO 19.18 85,758 Westport Innovations WPRT 48.20 480,064 Whole Foods Market WFM 86.35 538,510 New Lows 8 COMPANY SYMBOL LOW VOLUME ------- ------ ---- ------ Anthera Pharmaceuticals ANTH 2.95 158,332 Deer Consumr Prdcts DEER 3.25 88,710 GenMark Diagnostics GNMK 3.63 11,687 MDC Partners (Cl A) MDCA 11.85 72,846 Mission NewEnergy MNEL 0.66 38,246 Nanophase Techs NANX 0.34 26,310 Primo Water PRMW 2.26 820,034 ProShs UlShrt Nsdq Biot BIS 23.70 3,300Comments »
Most Active Option Trades
-CALLS- OPTION EXP.DATE STRIKE PRC. VOLUME LAST S/PRC. NET CHANGE BAC 5/19/12 12.0000 1162 0.0800 up 0.0300 KO 3/17/12 70.0000 622 0.1400 dn 0.2300 BAC 4/21/12 10.0000 524 0.2300 up 0.0400 BAC 3/17/12 9.0000 425 0.3700 up 0.1400 AAPL 3/17/12 590.0000 398 0.9400 dn 2.2600 AAPL 3/17/12 585.0000 263 1.9500 dn 3.5500 RF 8/18/12 7.0000 212 0.5000 up 0.0700 BAC 4/21/12 9.0000 211 0.6800 up 0.1000 TLT 5/19/12 115.0000 200 1.0200 dn 2.1800 QCOM 4/21/12 65.0000 192 2.0200 up 0.0500 -PUTS- OPTION EXP.DATE STRIKE PRC. VOLUME LAST S/PRC. NET CHANGE TBT 4/21/12 20.0000 300 0.3200 dn 0.0800 GLD 3/17/12 159.0000 281 0.0800 dn 0.1000 GLD 3/17/12 160.0000 231 0.2100 dn 0.1100 AAPL 3/17/12 575.0000 220 1.3900 dn 0.0600 AAPL 3/17/12 580.0000 207 3.1000 up 0.4000 DIA 4/21/12 130.0000 200 1.2400 dn 0.1600 AAPL 3/17/12 570.0000 188 0.7000 up 0.0100 GLD 3/23/12 159.0000 131 0.9300 up 0.0200 GLD 3/23/12 158.0000 130 0.6600 dn 0.3000 ANR 3/17/12 19.0000 106 1.8500 dn 0.5100 -VOLUME- CALLS PUTS TOTAL 23034 13927 36961
-CALLS- OPTION EXP.DATE STRIKE PRC. VOLUME LAST S/PRC. NET CHANGE BBY 4/21/12 27.0000 8597 0.4900 up 0.0700 BAC 4/21/12 9.0000 7330 0.6700 up 0.0900 ABT 4/21/12 60.0000 6899 0.6600 up 0.1800 BAC 3/23/12 10.0000 6178 0.0600 up 0.0200 BAC 4/21/12 10.0000 4842 0.2400 up 0.0500 BAC 3/17/12 9.0000 4780 0.3500 up 0.1000 AAPL 3/17/12 580.0000 3415 4.2700 dn 3.9300 AAPL 3/17/12 590.0000 3304 0.9300 dn 2.1700 BAC 1/19/13 10.0000 3133 1.1300 up 0.0900 AAPL 3/17/12 585.0000 2996 1.9200 dn 3.3400 -PUTS- OPTION EXP.DATE STRIKE PRC. VOLUME LAST S/PRC. NET CHANGE BAC 3/23/12 9.0000 3354 0.0800 dn 0.0400 AAPL 3/17/12 575.0000 2710 1.3500 dn 0.1100 AAPL 3/17/12 580.0000 2291 2.9900 up 0.3900 AAPL 3/17/12 570.0000 2097 0.6000 dn 0.0100 BAC 4/21/12 9.0000 1520 0.3000 dn 0.0600 MO 4/21/12 31.0000 1480 1.0900 dn 0.0100 JPM 3/23/12 44.0000 1426 0.5600 up 0.0700 AAPL 3/17/12 585.0000 1195 5.9000 up 1.2500 C 4/21/12 34.0000 1014 0.6700 dn 0.0300 C 3/17/12 36.0000 965 0.0700 dn 0.1100 -VOLUME- CALLS PUTS TOTAL 486295 271980 758275Comments »
JPM Caught “Misrepresenting” Credit Card Collections- Whistle Blower Fired
“After cutting corners and relying on poor accounting, JPMorgan Chase shut down its legal operation against credit card debtors, some of whom may have been wrongly sued by the bank. It would appear to be another example of greed overcoming honesty. Ten years ago, Chase was recovering about $130 million a year in bad debt collections. By 2009, they were raking in $1.2 billion on credit card recoveries alone. The problem, legally and ethically, was that Chase was misrepresenting what they were selling to professional debt collectors. The increase in profits—and the decrease in ethical standards—would appear to have begun in 2008 when Edmond Helaire and his right-hand man, Jason Lazinbat, were put in charge of the credit card debt division in San Antonio, Texas.
A former bank employee, Linda Almonte, first drew attention to the problem after she was fired for complaining that Chase was selling credit cards debts with erroneous balances to collection companies. Almonte then filed a whistleblower lawsuit contending she was wrongfully terminated.
Almonte had barely settled into her new job at Chase’s credit card litigation support section in San Antonio in 2009 when she was given responsibility for organizing a parcel of almost $200 million worth of delinquent credit card bills to be sold to a debt collector. It did not take long for her to realize that many of the unpaid bills, or judgments, were not what they were supposed to be. Shewrote to her superiors that almost half of the judgments were missing documents or lacked dates and signatures. In addition, for almost a quarter of the judgments, Chase was exaggerating the amount that was owed.
Another former bank employee, Howard Hardin, who oversaw a team handling tens of thousands of debt files, backed up Almonte’s story, telling American Banker his division “did not verify a single one” of the affidavits attesting to the amounts that the bank was seeking to collect. “We were told [by superiors] ‘We’re in a hurry. Go ahead and sign them,’” he said.
The revelations prompted the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to launch an investigation. Chase also has stopped suing delinquent borrowers for the time being.”
Comments »
State of the Union: 3 in 10 Young Adults Return Home to Live; Highest Level Since 1950
Old Man Buffet’s Favorite Indicator Showing Continued Mixed Results
“Rail traffic data remained mixed this week with the AAR reporting another decline in carloads and an increase in intermodal traffic. Intermodal was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis, but the 10 week moving average continued to slip at 2.5%. The year to date data for carloads is actually DOWN 1.4% this year. AARhas the details:
“The Association of American Railroads (AAR) today reported mixed weekly rail traffic for the week ending March 10, 2012, with U.S. railroads originating 278,728 carloads, down 4.8 percent compared with the same week last year. Intermodal volume for the week totaled 226,039 trailers and containers, up 4.2 percent compared with the same week last year.
Eleven of the 20 carload commodity groups posted increases compared with the same week in 2011, with petroleum products, up 39.9 percent; motor vehicles and equipment, up 14.8 percent, and metallic ores, up 11.5 percent. The groups showing a significant decrease in weekly traffic included coal, down 13.1 percent, and coke, down 10.3 percent.
Weekly carload volume on Eastern railroads was down 3.8 percent compared with the same week last year. In the West, weekly carload volume was down 5.4 percent compared with the same week in 2011.
For the first ten weeks of 2012, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 2,834,520 carloads, down 1.4 percent from last year, and 2,226,134 trailers and containers, up 2.3 percent from last year.”
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Stats on the Global Full Retard Move
Geithner: No Quick Fix to Soaring Gas Prices in ‘Dangerous Uncertain World’
“U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said there’s no easy way to reduce gasoline prices because the cost of oil is influenced by a “dangerous and uncertain world.”
Geithner, in a speech last night to the Economic Club of New York, also said he is encouraged by prospects for the U.S. economy even if “unemployment is very high, and is improving more gradually than any of us would like.”
“We still face a dangerous and uncertain world, as the rise in oil prices demonstrates,” Geithner said.
“Americans are feeling the effects of higher gas prices. There is no quick and easy fix to this problem, but it reinforces the need for more progress to develop additional sources of energy of all forms.”
Geithner is joining the administration’s response to Republican critics who blame President Barack Obama for high energy costs. Obama has been focusing on energy in public appearances and speeches as rising gasoline prices threaten to impede the recovery….”
Comments »Expectations Continue to Be Managed; CBO Whistle Blower Tells All
“Earlier today, we suggested that in the aftermath of the Greg “Muppets” Smith NYT OpEd, contrary to assumptions by Jim Cramer, a bevy of potential whistleblowers would step up to tell their tale of fraud and corruption across all walks of life – from Wall Street to, far more importantly, Washington, consequences be damned. This was paralleled by an alleged JPM whisteblower describing to the CFTC the firm’s supposedly illegal activities in the precious metals space, which while we initially dismissed, we now admit there may be more to the story (stay tuned), even though we still have our doubts. What we are 100% certain of, however, is that yet another whistleblower has stepped up, this time one already known to the general public, and one that Zero Hedge covered just over a month ago: we refer to the case of former CBO worker, Lan T. Pham, who, as the WSJ described in early February, “alleges she was terminated [by the CBO] after 2½ months for sharing pessimistic outlooks for the banking and housing sectors in 2010” and who “alleges supervisors stifled opinions that contradicted economic fixes endorsed by some on Wall Street, including research from a Morgan Stanley economist who served as a CBO adviser. As part of the review, Sen. Grassley’s staff is examining whether Wall Street firms or others exert influence that compromises the office’s independence.” As we observed in February, “what is most troubling is if indeed the CBO is nothing but merely another front for Wall Street to work its propaganda magic on the administration. Because at the core of every policy are numbers, usually with dollar signs in front of them, numbers which have to make sense and have to be projected into the future, no matter how grossly laughable the resultant hockeystick.” As it turns out, somewhat expectedly, the WSJ version of events was incomplete. There is much more to this very important story, one which has major implications over “impartial” policy decisionmaking, and as a result, Ms. Pham has approached Zero Hedge to share her full story with the public….”
Comments »Banks Salivate After AIG’S Risky Asset Portfolio
“A growing appetite for risk is prompting some Wall Street banks and investment firms to show interest in buying the most complex and troubled assets tied to the bailout of American International Group Inc.
The $47 billion face value in assets, held by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, are the same kinds of financial instruments that were at the heart of the financial crisis and caused record losses across the financial industry. Plunging values of the securities, called collateralized debt obligations, or CDOs, caused AIG’s near collapse and a government rescue in 2008. ….”
Comments »Google Faces New Probes Over Privacy Issues
Industrial Production Ends Up Unchanged in February
U.S. industrial production was unchanged in February as a sharp drop in mining output offset a third straight monthly gain in factory production, the Federal Reserve said on Friday.
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CNBC.com
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Manufacturing output overall climbed 0.3 percent despite a decline in auto production after a January spike. Automakers have been trying to meet demand that had been pent up by a lack of popular models after natural disasters in Japan early last year disrupted supply chains.
The sharp drop in mining output partly reflected a drop off in natural gas extraction. An unusually warm winter has cut into natural gas demand and pushed prices sharply lower.
Capacity utilization, a measure of how close to full-out factories and mines are running, edged down to 78.7 percent, 1.2 percentage points above its year-ago level but 1.6 percentage points below its long-run average.
Comments »Gapping Up and Down This Morning
Gapping up
COGO +61.9%, PWRD +27.6%, FRO +2.8%, BTU +2.2%, COMV +10.4%, DOLE +2.3%, CS +1.8%, RF +1.8%, LYG +1.3%, BAC +1.3%, HBC +1.1%,
ING +1.1%, FRO +5.2%, DRYS +3.8%, NAT +2.3%, EXM +1.5%, CYTX +13.1%, THLD +10%, JVA +5.3% , EBAY +2.1%, NOV +1% , RBS +4.5%,
SHPGY +1.7%, AAPL +0.6% ,
Gapping down
DSCO -10%, PRMW -9.6%, OGXI -8.8%, QTWW -7%, AIXG -4.4%, TICC -4.1%, SCLN -3.5%, CIM -1.3%, PKT -1.3%, IMOS -8.8%, ATPG -7.3%,
GLD -1%, EGO -0.9%, IAG -0.9%, SLV -0.5%, MT -0.5%, CCO -31.2%, TICC -4.8%, AXAS -1.7%, BWLD -1.3%
Comments »Upgrades and Downgrades This Morning
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) has seen targets raised this morning by Oppenheimer to $700 and by UBS to $675; see the strange downgrade from Thursday.
BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE: BLK) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
Buffalo Wild Wings, Inc. (NASDAQ: BWLD) Cut to Neutral at Wedbush.
Coach. Inc. (NYSE: COH) Raised estimates and target to $83 from $75 at Credit Suisse; Started as Buy with $90 target at Argus.
Corn Products International Inc. (NYSE: CPO) named as Value stock of the day at Zacks.
General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) Cut target to $29 from $30 at Jefferies.
KB Home (NYSE: KBH) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.
The Kroger Company (NYSE: KR) named as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) Raised to Buy with $39 target at Argus.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ: NTRS) Started as Neutral with $49 target at BofA/ML.
Red Hat Inc. (NYSE: RHT) Cut to Equal-weight at Morgan Stanley.
SBAC Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: SBAC) named as Top Pick at Credit Suisse.
Synovus Financial Corporation (NYSE: SNV) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation (NASDAQ: AMTD) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
Veolia Environnement (NYSE: VE) Raised to Neutral from Sell at UBS.
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In Play and On the Wires
U.S Interest Rates Continue to Spike Higher
The march higher in interest rates continues again today.
The 10-year is up to 2.3048%. The 30-year is also higher.
Mostly markets are quiet, but the trend of higher rates seems to be intact after taking a breather yesterday.
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Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/10-year-rates-above-230-2012-3#ixzz1pHaMmHhc
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