52 Week Highs and Lows

NYSE

New Highs 64 

COMPANY                       SYMBOL      HIGH                VOLUME 
-------                       ------      ----                ------ 
Abbott Labs                   ABT         58.15            1,228,185 
Advance Auto Parts            AAP         87.91               57,438 
Altria Group Inc              MO          30.71            4,130,105 
Amer Vanguard                 AVD         19.72               39,317 
Anheuser Busch                BUD         70.38              150,215 
Apollo Residential Mtg        AMTG        19.59               14,738 
Armstrong Wrld Ind            AWI         53.25               42,807 
Atlas Energy                  ATLS        28.24               21,363 
Bank of Am Dep ser 4          BMLpJ       22.50                8,650 
BlkRk High Inco Shrs          HIS         2.39                63,873 
BlkRk MuniYld CA Quality      MCA         15.58                6,894 
Brookfield Infrastructure     BIP         31.66               90,454 
CBS Corp B                    CBS         31.00              351,920 
CVS Caremark                  CVS         45.77              226,207 
Campus Crest Communities      CCGpA       26.35                  300 
Chesapeake Granite Wash       CHKR        29.95               42,882 
China Mobile                  CHL         56.30              252,209 
Chipotle Mexican Grill        CMG         401.28              65,850 
CinemarkHldgs                 CNK         22.10               50,601 
Coach                         COH         78.25              209,704 
Con Ed $5.00 Cum. pfd.        EDpA        105.83                 203 
Crown Castle Intl             CCI         55.99            1,430,654 
DTE Energy                    DTE         55.70               43,006 
Dillard's                     DDS         64.00               60,656 
El Paso Corp                  EP          29.43            1,044,744 
Equifax Inc                   EFX         44.00              241,561 
Exelis Inc.                   XLS         12.19               86,883 
First Pfd Cap Tr IV Secs      FBSpA       13.50                  100 
Genesco Inc                   GCO         75.42               18,305 
Goodrich Corp                 GR          126.22              50,199 
Harley Davidson               HOG         48.39              394,935 
Home Depot                    HD          48.21              916,050 
DR Horton                     DHI         15.86            1,296,845 
Hubbell A                     HUB/A       76.11                  200 
Hubbell B                     HUB/B       78.44                8,836 
IntercontlExchange            ICE         142.50              32,870 
IBM                           IBM         201.26             348,495 
Just Energy Group             JE          13.63               11,292 
Kayne Anderson Engy Dev       KED         25.11               12,215 
Kinder Morgan                 KMI         37.66              281,722 
Lowe's Cos                    LOW         30.07            2,478,885 
MFS Charter                   MCR         9.78                34,024 
Macy's Inc                    M           39.95              535,242 
Main Street Capital           MAIN        24.95               36,435 
Marriott Intl                 MAR         37.83              200,279 
Nationstar Mortgage Hldgs     NSM         14.66              196,495 
Newcastle Inv 8.375%  D       NCTpD       24.99                  300 
Northeast Utilities           NU          36.96               46,981 
Nstar                         NST         48.44               11,694 
Nuveen Pa Investment Qual     NQP         15.81                4,600 
Nuveen Performance Plus       NPP         15.97               20,458 
Ocwen Fincl                   OCN         16.65               41,292 
PVH Corp.                     PVH         87.65               41,787 
Ralph Lauren Cl A             RL          178.93              87,325 
Santander Hldgs dep shs       SOVpC       26.20                3,717 
Sherwin-Williams              SHW         107.28             152,290 
Target Corp                   TGT         58.03              430,087 
Telecom New Zealand           NZT         9.86                57,784 
Toro Co                       TTC         69.18               21,715 
Total Sys Svcs                TSS         22.45               33,710 
Valspar Corp                  VAL         48.98               75,888 
Vector Group                  VGR         18.59               89,642 
Wyndham Worldwide             WYN         45.17              328,967 
YUM! Brands                   YUM         67.84              251,324 

New Lows 7 

COMPANY                       SYMBOL      LOW                 VOLUME 
-------                       ------      ----                ------ 
China New Borun Corp.         BORN        2.63               457,344 
Hlth Care REIT 6.50 Pfd J     HCNpJ       25.05               61,433 
Heckmann                      HEK         4.57             1,645,057 
Inergy LP                     NRGY        16.51               77,425 
Nationstar Mortgage Hldgs     NSM         13.38              196,495 
Pampa Energia ADS             PAM         9.90                 4,100 
Telekom Indonesia             TLK         29.76              278,046

NASDAQ

New Highs 55 

COMPANY                       SYMBOL      HIGH                VOLUME 
-------                       ------      ----                ------ 
Aceto                         ACET        9.15                29,138 
Acorn Energy                  ACFN        9.34                13,866 
Analogic                      ALOG        64.99                2,234 
Apple                         AAPL        551.42           3,609,221 
Buffalo Wild Wings            BWLD        91.44               93,539 
Cal-Maine Foods               CALM        41.58               21,325 
Calumet Specialty Prdts       CLMT        24.77               18,092 
Charles & Colvard             CTHR        4.75                 3,910 
Chart Industries              GTLS        74.14               63,963 
Clean Energy Fuels            CLNE        21.43              461,851 
Consumer Ptf Services         CPSS        1.50                 8,625 
Costco Wholesale              COST        89.59              144,283 
DDi                           DDIC        12.00               14,408 
Dollar Tree                   DLTR        93.89              130,703 
Exar                          EXAR        7.45                15,355 
FirstBank  (Michigan)         FBMI        7.50                 2,773 
Flamel Techs SA               FLML        7.10                 5,400 
Genomic Health                GHDX        31.63               36,555 
IAC/InterActive               IACI        48.78               57,936 
InfoSpace                     INSP        13.16               74,349 
Intuitive Surgical            ISRG        529.70              62,547 
Jive Software                 JIVE        24.80               99,902 
Landstar System               LSTR        56.37               11,474 
lululemon athletica           LULU        72.75              132,026 
MTR Gaming Group              MNTG        5.24                39,417 
magicJack VocalTec            CALL        25.20              146,519 
Manhattan Associates          MANH        49.32                6,322 
MarketAxess Hldgs             MKTX        36.00               11,636 
Mattel Inc                    MAT         33.50              190,209 
Micros Systems                MCRS        54.38               19,700 
Middleby                      MIDD        100.90              56,649 
Monster Beverage              MNST        59.93              116,626 
North Central Bancshares      FFFD        23.42                2,400 
Old Dominion Freight Line     ODFL        47.96               48,163 
OmniAmerican Bancorp Inc      OABC        18.56                  100 
Oneida Fincl                  ONFC        10.53                5,663 
Orexigen Therapeutics         OREX        4.48             1,747,541 
Pacific Capital Bancorp       PCBC        45.45              281,739 
Panera Bread Co               PNRA        163.91              98,947 
Patrick Industries            PATK        8.45                26,842 
Premier Exhibitions           PRXI        3.28                33,785 
Ross Stores                   ROST        56.60              253,789 
SBA Comm                      SBAC        50.01              108,327 
Sanderson Farms               SAFM        53.60               15,903 
Sourcefire                    FIRE        49.19               92,373 
Tesla Motors                  TSLA        35.95              389,421 
Tessco Techs                  TESS        24.15               34,515 
Threshold Pharmaceuticals     THLD        6.91             1,518,253 
Top Image Sys                 TISA        3.35                99,255 
Tudou Holdings ADS            TUDO        42.81            1,421,519 
Utd Community Fincl           UCFC        1.58                17,654 
Verisk Analytics Inc          VRSK        45.37               64,021 
WisdomTree Emg Mkts Corp      EMCB        84.40                1,200 
Zoll Medical                  ZOLL        93.01            1,698,538 
Zumiez                        ZUMZ        34.88               74,478 

New Lows 10 

COMPANY                       SYMBOL      LOW                 VOLUME 
-------                       ------      ----                ------ 
Anthera Pharmaceuticals       ANTH        3.08             3,032,798 
B Communications              BCOM        10.12                1,189 
Bazaarvoice                   BV          15.10               15,510 
Ceres                         CERE        13.16                  400 
Intermolecular                IMI         5.01                 8,100 
NII Hldgs                     NIHD        16.78              288,873 
Partner Comm Co               PTNR        7.15                49,411 
Scientific Learning           SCIL        1.91                   924 
Tranzyme                      TZYM        1.68             4,192,598 
Wave Systems  (Cl A)          WAVX        1.65                97,498

Perhaps; also it is normal to be gun shy once you have had a traumatic shock….

Let’s hope he is right !

Would anyone be surprised if it happens ?

Source

As VIX drops below 15 for the first time in almost a year, the clarion calls of ‘all-clear’ should perhaps be tempered with the record-steepness of the volatility term-structure. Simply put, everyone and his mom is now selling short-dated vol but mid-term vol remains stubbornly high – in English, we’re safe today but tomorrow could be a disaster – or given medium-term risk outlooks, short-term traders are the most complacent they have ever been.

The writing of covered calls – or overwriting to juice returns – seems to be reaching crescendo levels given this steepness. Writing premium is a no-brainer trade until it reaches down your throat and rips your guts out…

Each time the VIX/VXV term structure has reached down to these levels it has snapped back extremely quickly – this is a record steepness for the short-term vol term structure and should be viewed with massive skepticism.

With all the Vol ETFs, we just wonder how much impact these are having on this short-dated vol compression – especially as longer-term vol fits much more accurately with credit implied protection costs – meaning reality in the short-term remains, well, complacent is a polite word.

Using the vol term structure to ‘bet’ across event risk time horizons is a popular trade (perhaps on Greek sovereign litigation risk concerns) but we think the collapse in short-term vol is as much as matter of levered longs chasing risk (as S&P has lost its juice) as it is a thoughtful risk positioning for some inevitable risk flare.

Careful with those fingers in front of that steamroller…

Chart: Bloomberg

Shorts are at a record low level to months running. In general short positions are off for quite some time. The clam wants you not to fade his powers…..

“The S&P 500 closed at about 1,370 at the end of last week, exceeding David Kostin’s target of 1,250 for the end of 2012. Kostin, chief U.S. equity strategist at Goldman Sachs, told Bloomberg TV that he is sticking by his forecast despite the S&P’s recent run.

Kostin said there were three main reasons for his call:

1. The U.S. economy is stagnating, growing below trend.
2. In a weak economic growth environment, markets historically have a flat multiple
3. 2012 is expected to see earnings growth of only 3 percent.

Elaborating on these three key points Kostin said at sub-2 percent, income growth is weak.  Also, earnings and revenue forecasts have been cut across all sectors in the last 30, 60 and 90 days. He also blamed rising oil prices and the lack of money flow into the market.

Kostin attributed the current upbeat investor sentiment to solid macro data in the U.S., especially the employment side, the LTRO program in Europe which pumped €1 trillion into the system, and finally some progress in Greece, i.e. the success of the Greek debt swap deal which should see Athens get it’s second bailout….”

Watch

Apparently some customers may have experienced a stuck throttle….

“BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s trade balance plunged $31.5 billion into the red in February as imports swamped exports to leave the largest deficit in at least a decade and fuel doubts about the extent to which frail foreign demand or seasonal distortion drove the drop.

Import growth of 39.6 percent on the year in February was the strongest in a year, well ahead of the 27 percent expected and more than twice the rate of export growth of 18.4 percent that was barely more than half the pace forecast — albeit at a six month high.

“It’s a very mixed picture,” said Zhang Zhiwei, chief China economist at Nomura in Hong Kong, who cautioned against reading too much into the data given the underlying volatility caused by the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday that saw a week-long factory shut down in January 2012 and February last year.

By Zhang’s calculations that adjust for days worked and exclude the volatility of the 2008/09 financial crisis, exports appear to have posted one of their lowest month-on-month growth rates since the mid 1990s….”

Read more 

“TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s Asahi Kasei Corp will buy U.S. medical equipment maker Zoll Medical Corp for $2.21 billion as it looks to build a globally competitive healthcare business and reduce its reliance on its chemicals and fibers operations.

Asahi Kasei will buy Zoll in an agreed cash deal for $93 a share, a 24 percent premium to Zoll’s closing price on Friday, the two companies said in a joint statement. The deal is Asahi Kasei’s biggest acquisition by far.

The transaction, which adds to about $200 billion that Japanese firms have spent on overseas acquisitions in the past four years, is expected to close in the second quarter, the companies said. Asahi Kasei said it will finance the deal with loans.

Asahi Kasei derives more than half its sales from its chemicals and fibers businesses and almost a third from homes and construction materials. Combined, those businesses generate close to 90 percent of operating income….”

Read more

This is the DECK analyst, Sam Poser, so you should pay attention.

Lowering Rating from Buy to Neutral: Stock Through Our Price Target. Long Term Story Remains Intact

Source

Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ: MDRX) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Approach Resources Inc. (NASDAQ: AREX) reiterated Buy and raised target to $44 at Canaccord Genuity.

First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) Maintained Hold but cut target to $30 at Canaccord Genuity.

Freescale Semiconductor (NYSE: FSL) Raised to Outperform at RBC.

Jinko Solar Holding Co. (NYSE: JKS) maintained Neutral but raised target to $10 at Credit Suisse.

K.B. Home (NYSE: KBH) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.

Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) named as Value stock of the day at Zacks.

Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.

Pepsico, Inc. (NYSE: PEP) Reiterated Buy at Gabelli.

Quality Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: QSII) Started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Suntech Power Holdings Co.. Ltd. (NYSE: STP) Cut estimates at Credit Suisse.

Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) Cut to Neutral at Janney Capital.

Veolia Environnement (NYSE: VE) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) Raised to Buy at Janney Capital.

Source 

Ann Inc. (ANN) : The women’s clothing retailer is poised to rise to the mid-$30s in the next 12 to 18 months if its Ann Taylor revenue recovers and margins improve, Barron’s reported, citing Marshall Kaplan of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney.

CBS Corp. (CBS) : Profit for the owner of the most- watched broadcast network will climb by $180 million this year, helped by political advertising, Chief Executive Officer Les Moonves said at a conference.

Glencore International Plc (GLCNF) (GLCNF US): The largest publicly traded commodities trader made a 3.5 billion-pound ($5.49 billion) bid for Viterra Inc. (VT) , Canada’s largest grain handler, The Sunday Telegraph reported, without saying where it got the information.

Google Inc. (GOOG) rose 0.3 percent to $602. The Web search engine owner increased its share of the U.S. market to 66.4 percent in February, according to comScore.

Harman International Industries Inc. (HAR) : The maker of audio equipment for cars and homes is poised to rise 20 percent as more drivers equip their vehicles with satellite navigation displays and voice-controllable communication devices, Barron’s reported.

McDonald’s Corp. (MCD) : Shares of the world’s largest restaurant chain may be overpriced, Barron’s reported in its “The Trader” column.

Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. (KORS) (KORS US): The luxury-goods maker and retailer named for the designer who founded it filed for a secondary offering of 25 million shares.

New Frontier Media Inc. (NOOF) : The Boulder, Colorado- based adult entertainment company confirmed it received an unsolicited buyout offer from Longkloof Ltd. at $1.35 a share. New Frontier rose 17 percent to $1.32 on March 9 after Longkloof said it made the offer.

Oracle Corp. (ORCL) fell 1.7 percent to $29.63. The world’s second-largest software maker was cut to hold from buy at Jefferies Group Inc., citing “greater challenges” to its engineered systems strategy.

PepsiCo Inc. (PEP) (PEP US) increased 0.7 percent to $63.60. The world’s largest snack-food maker said that former executive Brian Cornell rejoined the company as chief executive officer of the Americas foods division. Current Americas foods CEO John Compton was promoted to president of the company.

Gapping up

TUDO +127.4%, OREX +8.1%, RENN +3.7%, CCL +3.5%, BUD +1.4%, NVS +0.8%, CDTI +28.6%, FCEL +8% , AIS +6.8%, MBT +4.7% ,  ZOLL +21%,

NOOF +1.5% , DANG +6.6%, RENN +3.7%, SINA +0.8%, SOHU +0.6%,  PEP +0.6% , SZYM +5.6%, CHL +1.4% , CRR +1% ,  HSY +0.9%,

PCBC halted for a take over

Gapping down

ANTH -49.2%, YOKU -4.8%, KORS -4.7%, BAC -1.2%, NBG -3.1%, BCS -2.5%, IRE -2.2%, LYG -1.4%, BAC -1.2%, C -0.6%, RES -25.5% (split ),

TBET -14.6%, KORS -4.7%, ORCL -1.3% , UAL -1.4%,  SJM -0.5%, GIS -1%,

It is being reported that CNN is in talks to acquire Mashable…

In Play

On the Wires 

“MBIA’s (NYSE:MBI) chief executive Joseph W. Brown Junior has been accused of insider trading. The allegation comes in the midst of a trial concerning fraud when MBIA was split into two separate organisation. The specific allegation relates to purchases of the company’s stock Mr. Brown made in the months leading up to the restructuring. MBIA committed to a plan to separate its municipal bond insurance business from its mortgage backed securities sector which were in trouble due to the financial crisis. The announcement of that plan was made in February 2009….”

Read more 

Full article

Markets are not convinced at this point that the problems have been taken care of in Europe. Yes water has been thrown onto the flames, but the underlying debt problem still smolders putting yields at their highest point in eight weeks.

“Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) Chief Executive Officer Aubrey McClendon is cultivating investors from Seoul to New Delhi eager to own natural gas that’s 85 percent cheaper than Middle East supplies because of a glut in the U.S.

As head of the second-largest U.S. natural gas supplier, McClendon met executives of Asian power utilities and state-run energy companies on a 14-day trip last month. He said they’re unfazed by Chesapeake’s $10.3 billion debt load, more than twice Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM)’s burden, and gas trading near a 10-year low of $2.23 per million British thermal units — two factors that have helped send its stock down 25 percent in the past year….”

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