Gapping up
OXGN +19.4%, CSOD +10.1%, DMND +6.4%, DOW +1%, GILD +0.8%, FFIV +1.6%,
DDD +2%, ROC +3.2%, MNST +1.9%, CLNE +2.2%, GNOM +4%, NSPH +19.8%,
GBX +9.7%, TKMR +37.7%, NVO +0.9%, AZN +0.8%, NVS +0.5%, CSOD +10.1%,
GALE +10%, NTI +9.5%, MHR +5%, DKS +4%, HD +2.5%, CEL +2.5%, TSPT +2.4%,
Gapping down
NBG -15.1%, WFT -9.5%, VOD -4.1%, MWE -3.4%, RIO -2.1%, BHP -1.9%, MSFT -1.8%,
STO -1.6%, HOLX -1.5%, WX -1.3%, BP -1.1%, LL -4.7%, MCP -2.4%, CJES-0.4%,
Comments »APD, BERY, CL, CXS, DOW, FFIV, FMS, IMGN, LF, MCP, NS, OMC, PDLI, REGN, SGEN, WU, WY, XOMA,
Comments »REALLY ?
“Power companies are “regularly” manipulating Britain’s wholesale gas prices, a whistleblower has claimed.
Last night City watchdog the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and energy regulator Ofgem both said they had launched investigations into the claims.
The FSA launched its investigation after whistleblower Seth Freedman told them he saw evidence that wholesale gas prices, used as the basis for domestic energy bills, were manipulated by some of the big power companies according to a report by the Guardian newspaper .
Mr Freedman, who worked at ICIS Heren, a firm which reports gas prices, said he saw what he took to be suspect trading on September 28, which is an important date as it marks the end of the gas industry’s financial year and can influence future prices.”
Comments »“Last night, we got shocking news out of Microsoft.
The man who saved Office, saved Vista, and launched Windows 8, Steven Sinofsky, is out of the company.
Sinofsky was often described as Microsoft’s CEO-in-waiting, so this was especially surprising news.”
Comments »“Home Depot Inc. (HD), the largest U.S. home-improvement retailer, posted third-quarter profit that topped analysts’ estimates as the recovering U.S. housing market prompted customers to spend more on home repairs.
Net income climbed 1.4 percent to $947 million, or 63 cents a share, from $934 million, or 60 cents, a year earlier, the Atlanta-based company said today in a statement. Excluding some items, profit was 74 cents. The average estimate of 25 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg was 70 cents. Sales rose 4.6 percent to $18.1 billion, topping the $17.9 billion average estimate.
U.S. real estate values are rebounding after a five-year decline, sending homeowners back to stores for remodeling supplies. Sales at Home Depot locations open at least a year rose 4.2 percent, the sixth straight quarterly increase, as customers visited more often and spent more per trip.”
Comments »“Vodafone Group Plc (VOD) reported service revenue that missed estimates and a 5.9 billion pound ($9.4 billion) writedown in Spain and Italy that sank the world’s second-largest mobile-phone company into a first-half net loss.
Service sales fell 1.4 percent in the second quarter ended Sept. 30 excluding the impact of acquisitions and currency fluctuations, Newbury, England-based Vodafone said today. That’s the first decline in 10 quarters and double analysts’ projection for 0.7 percent contraction compiled by Bloomberg. The first- half net loss was 1.98 billion pounds, after a 6.68 billion- pound profit a year earlier.”
Comments »“The biggest Treasury rally in five months is underlining market concern that President Barack Obama and House Republicans will fail to avert $607 billion in mandated spending cuts and tax increases starting Jan. 1.
Yields on 10-year Treasuries dropped the most in one day since May to 1.62 percent after Obama’s re-election Nov. 6. A figure below 1.7 percent indicates that investors expect gross domestic product to shrink by 0.3 percent next year as the so- called fiscal cliff takes effect, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. Rates on longer-term Treasuries have converged with those of non-U.S. government bonds globally, after remaining about 1 percentage point above them in 2011.”
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“NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus’ Central Bank chief says “it’s very important” to sign a bailout agreement with potential creditors by next month in order to calm jittery investors.
Panicos Demetriades says investment firm PIMCO and auditors Deloitte will come up with a preliminary figure toward the end of this month, or early December, on how much money the country’s ailing banks will need to recover from their huge exposure to Greece.”
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“The foreign-exchange market is signaling more pain ahead for currencies that benefit from a sustained global recovery, five years after the onset of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.
HSBC Holdings Plc’s Global Hazard Indicator, which combines implied volatility readings in options for the dollar, euro and yen, shows wider price swings in currencies over the next year than in the coming three months. If history is any guide, that means the dollar and yen will strengthen and higher-yielding, higher-risk currencies such as the Brazilian real and South African rand will depreciate.”
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“The European Union is closer to settling how to apply Basel bank capital rules to its lenders after officials and lawmakers drafted potential compromises on parts of the regulatory overhaul.
Officials and lawmakers said a deal on the legislation was in sight following negotiations in Brussels. The measures, known as Basel III, would more than triple the core capital that lenders must hold as a buffer against insolvency, and require banks to meet minimum liquidity rules. The European Parliament has called for curbs on banker bonuses, too.
There “was a good atmosphere and a political willingness to solve the problems,” said Othmar Karas, the EU Parliament lawmaker leading the work on the draft rules. “I think we’ve done a good job today.”
Comments »“China’s stocks fell to the lowest level in seven weeks after the Xinhua News Agency reported the government may expand a property tax trial and Haitong Securities Co. said retailers may post weak sales this month.”
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“Australia’s dollar declined, trimming a gain from yesterday, as concern Europe’s debt crisis is weighing on global growth reduced demand for riskier assets.
The so-called Aussie fell against most of its major peers after data showed business confidence weakened in Australia and before a report on German economic sentiment. Demand for the New Zealand dollar was limited as Asian stocks dropped.
“Europe looks like it’s heading towards recession, if not already in recession, which is having a drag on the global economy,” said Derek Mumford, a Sydney-based director at Rochford Capital, a currency risk-management company. “Commodity prices are well off their highs from earlier on in the year and last year. The Aussie is vulnerable to the downside.”
Comments »“Japanese consumers are closing their wallets as the economy’s outlook darkens, making it harder for Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda to stave off the nation’s third recession in four years.
Households are holding the most cash since 2005, shunning risk as they grow gloomier, Bank of Japan data shows. Sliding private consumption contributed to an annualized 3.5 percent decline in gross domestic product in the past quarter, a Cabinet Office report showed yesterday.
While Noda may have avoided a fiscal cliff as the opposition agreed to a deal on deficit-financing legislation, the consumer malaise highlights the challenge of reviving growth in the world’s third-largest economy. At the same time as he tries to rebuild relations with China to support exports, Noda may need to come up with more incentives for consumer purchases at home.”
Comments »“Oil declined for a second day in New York amid speculation that U.S. crude inventories rose last week and after the International Energy Agency cut its forecast for global demand growth this quarter.
Futures slipped as much as 1.2 percent. U.S. crude stockpiles probably increased last week to the highest level in more than three months, according to a Bloomberg survey before an Energy Department report on Nov. 15. OPEC will need to pump less crude this quarter as demand growth slows, the IEA said. Oil slid yesterday as investors awaited budget talks in the U.S., and extended losses after European leaders said they’ll meet again Nov. 20 to discuss additional funding for Greece.
“Primarily bearish winds are blowing in oil markets at the moment,” said Filip Petersson, a commodities strategist at SEB AB in Stockholm who predicts Brent crude will average $110 a barrel this quarter. “On the macro side, bearish influences are coming from a new wave of Greek worries and the approaching U.S. fiscal cliff.”
Comments »“European stocks pared their declines and the euro swung between gains and losses against the dollar after Bild Zeitung said Germany favored bundling a rescue- package to Greece. Metals led commodities lower.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index (SXXP) dropped 0.4 percent at 7:30 a.m. in New York, after falling as much as 0.8 percent. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures sank 0.4 percent, after losing as much as 0.9 percent. The euro was little changed at $1.2705. Zinc, nickel and lead dropped at least 0.5 percent after Xinhua News Agency reported China may expand a property tax trial.”
Comments »“Spanish bonds fell, pushing the 10- year yield to a six-week high, after the International Monetary Fund failed to agree with euro-area finance ministers on a strategy to help Greece bring down its debt load.
Germany’s 10-year bonds erased an advance after Bild Zeitung reported that the nation favored combining aid payments intended for Greece into a single installment of 44 billion euros ($55.9 billion). European policy makers gave Greece two extra years to reduce its budget deficit without saying how the additional funding needs would be covered. The yields on Austrian and Belgian securities declined to records and French bonds rose for a ninth day, the longest run since 1997.
“There’s clearly big disagreement between the IMF and Eurogroup,” said Lyn Graham-Taylor, a fixed-income strategist at Rabobank International in London. “The public nature of the spat has resulted in risk-off sentiment, which is affectingSpain.”
Comments »Click here for charts, courtesy of The almighty PPT hybrid screen.
Comments »Antivirus pioneer John McAfee is on the run from murder charges, Belize police say. According to Marco Vidal, head of the national police force’s Gang Suppression Unit, McAfee is a prime suspect in the murder of American expatriate Gregory Faull, who was gunned down Saturday night at his home in San Pedro Town on the island of Ambergris Caye.
Details remain sketchy so far, but residents say that Faull was a well-liked builder who hailed originally from California. The two men had been at odds for some time. Last Wednesday, Faull filed a formal complaint against McAfee with the mayor’s office, asserting that McAfee had fired off guns and exhibited “roguish behavior.” Their final disagreement apparently involved dogs.
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