Monthly Archives: March 2012
FLASH: Facebook Moves Closer to IPO as They Request a Halt on Secondary Share Trading
Market Update
Comments »Action was mostly mixed this morning, but a lack of positive leadership has allowed stocks to descend to sizable losses.
The tepid tone to premarket trade came amid moderate weakness abroad, along with news that overall durable goods orders increased by 2.2% in February and an even softer 1.6% when excluding transportation items. Many economists had expected stronger growth.
Without any directional cues in the early going, stocks stayed near the neutral line. However, without anything to drive stocks to new heights — just yesterday morning the S&P 500 set an incrementally improved multi-year high — participants have been compelled to pocket profits.
Selling interest has been especially pronounced among natural resource plays. The action has exacerbated weakness among commodities, which are being clipped in response to concerns about softer demand. With the CRB Index down 1.2% and oil off by 2.1% at $105.05 per barrel following a bearish inventory report, both the Energy sector and the Materials sector are down 1.9%.
Tech and Financials, arguably the two most influential sectors in broad market trade, attempted to provide some support through mid-morning trade, but they have since succumbed to the efforts of sellers. That said, the pair has managed to limit losses to 0.5%, which isn’t much worse than the 0.3% loss collectively displayed by Consumer Staples. Consumer Staples currently make up the best performing sector.
The dollar has attracted only a modest bid. It is currently up 0.2% against a collection of competing currencies. The sterling pound is under considerable pressure, though; it was last quoted with a 0.6% loss at $1.59 following news that the United Kingdom reported downwardly revised data that showed its economy contracted by 0.3% during the fourth quarter.
Treasuries have had a quiet day with the 10-year Note dancing along the neutral line. However, action could heat up with the imminent release of results from an auction of 5-year Notes. DJ30 -85.14 NASDAQ -24.46 SP500 -11.52 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 670/895 mln/1750 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 845/325 mln/2105
Tomorrow’s Final GDP Revision Could Be Better Than Expected
“Tomorrow we get the last revision to Q4 GDP.
First the number came in at 2.8%.
Then upon first revision it was revised to 3.0%.
According to Bloomberg, the consensus is still it will stay at 3.0% upon tomorrow’s revision.
But maybe it will be way more.
Nomura has a new note out titled: US: Why Q4 GDP growth could be much higher than previously estimated
First they note that the December data from last year has been mostly revised higher, which augurs well for a good upward revision to this all-encompassing number.
Moreover, the incorporation of the Quarterly Services Survey (QSS), an important input for estimating household service consumption, might add a few more tenths to real GDP growth in Q4 2011. The annualized q-o-q growth rate of real personal service consumption was reported to be 0.74% in the second estimate of GDP, following 1.93% in Q3 and 1.86% in Q4. Considering other service-related data for Q4, such as the nonmanufacturing ISM survey and nonfarm payrolls in private service industries, the 0.74% increase seems to have underestimated service consumption. Although our expectation for the third estimate of Q4 GDP of 3.5% is already well above the market consensus of 3.0%, we think that there are some upside risks to our forecast.”
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CEO Optimism and Potential Hiring is on the Rise
“WASHINGTON (AP) — A growing number of chief executives at large U.S. companies say they are more optimistic about the economy and plan to hire in the next six months.
The Business Roundtable says a survey of its CEO members found that 42 percent expect to hire over the next six months. That’s up from 35 percent three months ago. Nearly half plan to spend more on machinery and other capital equipment and more than 80 percent expect their sales to rise.
The chief executives’ overall outlook on the economy improved sharply. The group’s outlook index jumped to 96.9 in the current quarter from 77.9 in the final quarter of last year. That’s the highest since last summer.
The group is an association of the leaders of the 200 biggest U.S. companies.”
Comments »U.S. Equities Sell Off as Traders Wait on Europe and Their Debt Crisis Decisions
“U. S. stocks fell Wednesday as traders looked again to the threat posed by Europe’s lingering debt crisis. The decline came in spite of a government report that U.S. factory orders rose strongly last month, a sign that businesses continue to invest.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 40 points to 13,157 in late morning trading. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 6 to 1,406. The Nasdaq composite index, heavy with technology stocks, fell 10 to 3,110.
Many traders are holding back because they expect news later this week on Europe’s progress in resolving its debt crisis, said Andrew Goldberg, global market strategist with J.P. Morgan Funds.
“Investors know Europe is still in crisis” and fear a steeper drop if markets are spooked by a meeting of European finance ministers that begins Thursday and Spain’s budget announcement on Friday, Goldberg said. He said that’s probably more important for the stock market than the data on long-lasting factory goods.
The Commerce Department said before the market opened that orders for durable goods, things expected to last at least three years, rose 2.2 percent in February. Orders for machinery, computers, autos and aircraft fueled the rise.
The solid report on factory orders relieved fears that demand might fall sharply because a key tax break expired. Businesses last year could deduct the cost of their investments from taxable profits before calculating their tax bills. That tax benefit has been halved since January.
The positive economic news reduced demand for U.S. Treasury debt. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 2.21 percent from 2.19 percent before the report. As stocks fell in morning trading, traders sought the safety of Treasurys and the yield fell back to 2.19 percent.
The encouraging report on orders for durable goods came a day after an index of consumer confidence suggested Americans’ spirits are relatively resilient despite skyrocketing gasoline costs.
Energy prices, another concern for economic policymakers, might be moving in a direction that would encourage growth. Futures for crude, natural gas, heating oil and gasoline all fell early Wednesday, with gasoline leading the way.
Oil prices fell to near $105 a barrel Wednesday after a report suggesting a larger-than-expected jump in U.S. crude supplies, a sign that demand remains weak.
The American Petroleum Institute said late Tuesday that crude inventories rose 3.6 million barrels last week. That is a bigger jump than was predicted by analysts surveyed by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos. Analysts in that survey expected an increase of 2.8 million barrels.
If consumers get a break on what they have to pay for energy, that could provide a bump for the U.S. economy…”
Comments »Nike Sues Reebok Over Use of Tebow’s Name on Jets Clothes
EU Rescue Funds Expected to Jump to $1.3 Trillion
Annie’s Organic, $BNNY,Goes Ape Shit Upon IPO Debut
Fed Study Asserts Unemployment May Drop to 6% by Mid 2013
“The jobless rate in the U.S. could drop to as low as 6 percent by the first half of 2013, a bigger decrease than most economists currently project, according to research from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
The relationship between the number of Americans newly unemployed and those recently finding work indicates joblessness will continue to decline, according to economist Aysegul Sahin. The jobless rate held at a three-year low of 8.3 percent last month after falling by 0.8 percentage point in the year ended January, according to figures from the Labor Department.
“Simulations based on historical patterns suggest that the fall in the unemployment rate could be quicker than many forecasters predict,” Sahin wrote in a note on the bank’s Liberty Street Economics blog co-written by research associate Christina Patterson.
The analysis looked at flows into and out of unemployment since the end of World War II, likening it to water in a bathtub. The unemployment rate, or level of water in the tub, would be determined by the difference in the volume of water pouring in and draining out.
The number of those exiting unemployment, which include people finding a new job as well as those leaving the labor force, takes precedence in determining changes in joblessness at this stage of a recovery, the economists found.
The flow into and out of unemployment over the three prior recoveries indicates the jobless rate will decrease to 6 percent by at least the end of 2014, the economists said. Should the pattern be similar to that following the rebound from the 1990- 91 recession, the rate could get close to there by early next year.
Median Forecast…”
Comments »Disgusting Lunatic, Silverman, Feeds Her Son Mouth to Mouth
Fishing Expedition Ends in Tragedy
What Other Mandatory Enforcement Might We Expect From the Obama Administration ?
FLASH: Rep. Bobby Rush Escorted Off House Floor for Wearing Hoodie Sweatshirt
Morgan Stanley Puts Out a Two Year Commodity Report
Crude Oil Supplies Come in Double Expectations; A Build of 7.1 Million Barrels
Gasoline inventories were down 3.5 million barrels …
Comments »Today’s Heat Map and AD /Lines
Most Active Options Trades
-CALLS- OPTION EXP.DATE STRIKE PRC. VOLUME LAST S/PRC. NET CHANGE AAPL 3/30/12 620.0000 299 4.8900 up 1.8900 AAPL 4/21/12 660.0000 206 5.2000 up 1.4000 AAPL 4/21/12 620.0000 202 17.8500 up 3.0500 LVS 4/21/12 60.0000 162 1.4500 up 0.1500 AAPL 3/30/12 625.0000 161 2.9600 up 1.3500 NVDA 5/19/12 16.0000 139 0.6100 up 0.2100 AAPL 4/21/12 615.0000 134 20.2500 up 3.0000 AAPL 4/21/12 610.0000 126 22.8000 up 3.1000 TM 4/21/12 92.5000 125 0.1200 up 0.0300 BAC 6/16/12 12.0000 122 0.1400 dn 0.0100 -PUTS- OPTION EXP.DATE STRIKE PRC. VOLUME LAST S/PRC. NET CHANGE BAC 5/19/12 8.0000 500 0.1300 up 0.0100 GMCR 3/30/12 52.5000 127 1.6200 up 0.2800 MMR 4/21/12 11.0000 121 0.8000 dn 0.0600 VZ 4/21/12 39.0000 120 1.2000 up 0.4700 AAPL 3/30/12 615.0000 101 3.4000 dn 2.1500 VZ 4/21/12 38.0000 100 0.5900 up 0.2500 SNDK 4/21/12 48.0000 100 0.8000 dn 0.0300 AAPL 3/30/12 620.0000 82 5.5500 dn 3.0500 WAG 4/21/12 33.0000 50 0.2400 up 0.0500 NBR 9/22/12 15.0000 48 1.0000 up 0.1100 -VOLUME- CALLS PUTS TOTAL 11797 13415 25212
-CALLS- OPTION EXP.DATE STRIKE PRC. VOLUME LAST S/PRC. NET CHANGE AMLN 4/21/12 22.0000 13612 1.6300 up 1.5900 AAPL 3/30/12 620.0000 5019 4.9500 up 2.0200 AAPL 3/30/12 625.0000 3910 2.9000 up 1.2200 AAPL 3/30/12 630.0000 2985 1.6800 up 0.7200 AAPL 3/30/12 615.0000 2571 7.8000 up 2.8500 AAPL 3/30/12 610.0000 1822 11.2900 up 3.5400 AMLN 4/21/12 21.0000 1561 2.2100 up 2.1500 DFS 4/21/12 34.0000 1525 0.5300 dn 0.2000 MSFT 1/19/13 25.0000 1417 7.8000 dn 0.0500 BAC 4/21/12 10.0000 1117 0.3100 up 0.0300 -PUTS- OPTION EXP.DATE STRIKE PRC. VOLUME LAST S/PRC. NET CHANGE BAC 3/30/12 9.0000 1743 0.0100 dn 0.0200 AAPL 3/30/12 615.0000 1673 3.6000 dn 1.9000 MHS 6/16/12 65.0000 1500 0.8500 dn 2.2700 AMZN 3/30/12 200.0000 1418 0.8200 up 0.0100 AAPL 3/30/12 610.0000 1407 2.2300 dn 1.1700 AAPL 3/30/12 620.0000 1338 5.6000 dn 2.8500 AMZN 3/30/12 195.0000 1149 0.3000 dn 0.0200 AAPL 3/30/12 605.0000 1108 1.3500 dn 0.6700 MMR 4/21/12 11.0000 1079 0.8000 up 0.0100 AAPL 3/30/12 600.0000 1029 0.8500 dn 0.3600 -VOLUME- CALLS PUTS TOTAL 275427 179057 454484Comments »
Today’s Money Flows
ISSUE GAINERS SYMBOL EXCH LAST PRICE MONEY FLOW RATIO
(in millions)
Apple AAPL NASD 619.15 +68.5 1.08
Annie's Inc. BNNY NYSE 31.85 +35.8 3.44
Vocera Communications VCRA NYSE 23.41 +27.7 3.82
Google GOOG NASD 657.76 +26.3 1.22
Express Scripts ESRX NASD 54.74 +18.4 1.48
Legg Mason BW Glbl Incm BWG NYSE 20.01 +13.7 18.73
Amazoncom AMZN NASD 205.59 +13.5 1.21
Oracle ORCL NASD 29.36 +12.5 2.88
Weatherford Intl WFT NYSE 15.37 +10.1 2.31
Johnson & Johnson JNJ NYSE 65.41 +10.0 2.33
EMC Corp EMC NYSE 29.96 +9.8 2.28
iShrs Tr MSCI EAFE EFA ARCA 55.12 +9.7 2.95
Union Pacific UNP NYSE 109.37 +8.8 1.32
Accenture PLC A ACN NYSE 64.82 +7.9 2.31
Bristol-Myers BMY NYSE 33.77 +7.9 3.10
Merck MRK NYSE 38.90 +7.6 2.69
DirecTV Group Inc DTV NASD 49.18 +7.2 1.88
Freeport McMoran FCX NYSE 37.81 +6.6 1.25
MGM Resorts Intl MGM NYSE 14.47 +6.5 2.74
Cheesecake Factory CAKE NASD 30.04 +6.1 16.29
ISSUE DECLINERS SYMBOL EXCH LAST PRICE MONEY FLOW RATIO
(in millions)
iShrs Russell 2000 IWM ARCA 83.78 -67.2 0.38
SPDR S&P 500 SPY ARCA 141.06 -44.8 0.77
Progressive Corp PGR NYSE 23.23 -24.2 0.03
Qualcomm QCOM NASD 68.31 -20.0 0.41
Tyco Intl TYC NYSE 55.74 -19.6 0.58
AstraZeneca AZN NYSE 45.06 -16.2 0.10
JPMorgan Chase JPM NYSE 45.84 -15.9 0.52
iShrs MSCI Emerg Mkts EEM ARCA 43.09 -14.6 0.42
General Electric GE NYSE 20.06 -13.0 0.43
Bank Of America BAC NYSE 9.70 -12.3 0.81
Occidental Pete OXY NYSE 96.05 -12.1 0.53
ExxonMobil XOM NYSE 86.22 -12.0 0.43
Pentair Inc PNR NYSE 47.13 -11.1 0.71
Total ADS TOT NYSE 51.07 -10.8 0.46
IBM IBM NYSE 208.32 -10.3 0.66
Citigroup C NYSE 36.90 -10.3 0.70
Goldman Sachs GS NYSE 125.90 -9.0 0.72
Microsoft MSFT NASD 32.67 -8.2 0.60
Pfizer PFE NYSE 22.48 -7.7 0.53
Coca-Cola KO NYSE 71.99 -7.4 0.59
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52 Week Highs and Lows
NYSE
New Highs 29 COMPANY SYMBOL HIGH VOLUME ------- ------ ---- ------ AVG Technologies AVG 15.00 17,351 Amer Strategic Inco Ptf ASP 11.73 405 Amer Vanguard AVD 21.17 18,777 Coca-Cola KO 72.00 1,179,999 Energ Gerais-Cemig CIG 24.82 326,158 Copa Hldgs Cl A CPA 80.31 84,135 Corrections Corp Of Amer CXW 26.80 46,769 EMC Corp EMC 30.00 2,729,277 Exelis Inc. XLS 12.73 198,489 GNC Holdings A GNC 35.10 111,130 Global Cash Access GCA 7.73 482,598 H&Q Life Sciences HQL 13.76 14,217 Hitachi Ltd HIT 64.76 21,115 IBM IBM 208.69 453,890 Just Energy Group JE 13.94 18,980 Kayne Andrsn Midstr Engy KMF 27.39 10,639 LEH 6% Prudential Finl JZH 25.32 400 Markel Corp MKL 431.84 12,074 McKesson Corp MCK 88.70 153,969 Medco Health MHS 72.50 11,874,555 PVH Corp. PVH 92.40 560,184 Pentair Inc PNR 48.77 2,607,749 Progressive Corp PGR 23.37 1,356,624 RPM Intl RPM 26.23 94,179 Toyota Motor TM 87.14 241,169 Tyco Intl TYC 55.86 3,187,113 Unifirst UNF 62.98 44,614 Xinyuan Real Estate XIN 2.96 152,124 Yelp Inc YELP 28.84 543,674 New Lows 15 COMPANY SYMBOL LOW VOLUME ------- ------ ---- ------ Advantage Oil & Gas AAV 3.30 56,552 Alliant Techsys ATK 50.55 13,543 Alpha Natural Res ANR 14.95 2,209,840 Arch Coal ACI 10.87 1,469,984 Baker Hughes BHI 41.32 1,189,466 Bill Barrett BBG 26.24 81,168 Cash Store Financial Svc CSFS 5.58 6,750 Christopher & Banks CBK 1.85 397,379 Cushing Royalty & Incm Fd SRF 24.10 58,177 Excel Tr 8.125% Pfd B EXLpB 25.02 4,800 Halcon Resources HK 9.95 150,901 NTT DOCOMO Inc DCM 16.56 36,717 Peabody Energy BTU 28.81 1,517,497 STR Holdings Inc. STRI 4.40 124,094 Vipshop Holdings ADS VIPS 4.53 24,545
NASDAQ
New Highs 36 COMPANY SYMBOL HIGH VOLUME ------- ------ ---- ------ ASML Hldg NV ASML 49.62 260,896 Acorn Energy ACFN 9.81 48,448 Allot Comm ALLT 23.20 89,564 Amylin Pharm AMLN 23.26 10,973,308 Apple AAPL 621.45 4,581,441 Ariad Pharm ARIA 16.75 696,265 Bazaarvoice BV 20.48 22,946 Casey's General Stores CASY 56.44 7,922 Check Point Sftwre Techs CHKP 64.68 200,447 CrownCrafts CRWS 5.40 9,083 Dynavax Techs DVAX 4.83 185,789 EXACT Sciences EXAS 10.48 51,521 Hain Celestial Group HAIN 44.82 37,357 Hicks Acquisition Co II HKAC 9.88 300 JB Hunt Transport JBHT 55.14 63,539 ICU Medical ICUI 49.56 2,041 iShrNasdaqBiotch IBB 124.66 98,117 KLA-Tencor KLAC 55.15 433,750 LNB Bancorp LNBB 7.20 14,504 Mackinac Financial MFNC 7.74 1,900 Mattersight MATR 8.22 4,974 Mellanox Techs MLNX 42.08 16,910 Monster Beverage MNST 62.29 76,376 NASDAQ Prem Inc & Growth QQQX 15.78 14,928 PAREXEL Intl PRXL 28.74 119,186 Patrick Industries PATK 11.97 28,431 Peet's Coffee & Tea PEET 77.60 26,882 Penford PENX 7.00 5,676 PwrShrs QQQ Tr Series 1 QQQ 68.51 6,796,265 Premier Exhibitions PRXI 3.53 46,245 ProShares UltraPro QQQ TQQQ 124.81 201,062 Repligen RGEN 5.64 100,451 Russ SmCp Aggressive Gwth SGGG 65.84 300 Snyders-Lance LNCE 25.64 17,820 Umpqua Hldgs UMPQ 13.78 67,238 United Bancorp UBCP 9.56 1,384 New Lows 9 COMPANY SYMBOL LOW VOLUME ------- ------ ---- ------ Apricus Biosciences APRI 2.61 66,301 Cardiome Pharma CRME 0.72 170,921 Cleantech Solutions Intl CLNT 1.85 3,000 Deckers Outdoor DECK 64.43 264,772 ProShr Ul Sh QQQ SQQQ 10.35 219,753 SMF Energy FUEL 1.10 120,597 SkyPeople Fruit Juice SPU 1.40 30,052 Swisher Hygiene SWSH 2.60 726,849 Wacoal Hldgs Corp WACLY 57.20 1,299Comments »
