Ex transportation: Prior 2%, Market expects -0.4%, Actual +1.5%
Comments »Monthly Archives: November 2012
Gapping Up and Down This Morning
Gapping up
CDTI +11.1%, GNRC +7.8%, LVS +4.9%, NOK +3.6%, DDS +3.4%, DG +2.7%,
BV +2.3%, DB +1.6%, HI +1.3%, FB +1.1%, CROX +2.8%, YELP +1.2%, DECK +1.1%,
AMRN +4.4%, CDTI +11.1%, CCCL +11.6%, EBR +6.8%, CIG +3.8%, PBR +1.8%,
BCS +1.5%, GLW +5.7%, RAH +26.4% and CAG +5.9%,
Gapping down
DVAX -19.8%, THO -6.8%, NBG -6.1%, FULL -3.9%, EQR -2.6%, AU -2%, MMR -1.6%, AVB -1.5%
Comments »In Play and On the Wires
$ACAD Pops 150% in Premarket Trade on Favorable Drug Trial Results
Privacy Groups Ask $FB to Withdraw Proposed Policy Changes
“(Reuters) – Two privacy advocacy groups urgedFacebook Inc on Monday to withdraw proposed changes to its terms of service that would allow the company to share user data with recently acquired photo-application Instagram, eliminate a user voting system and loosen email restrictions within the social network.
The changes, which Facebook unveiled on Wednesday, raise privacy risks for users and violate the company’s previous commitments to its roughly 1 billion members, according to the Electronic Privacy Information Center and the Center for Digital Democracy.
“Facebook’s proposed changes implicate the user privacy and terms of a recent settlement with the Federal Trade Commission,” the groups said in a letter to Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg that was published on their websites on Monday.”
Comments »Analyst Say Greek Debt Deal is the Bare Minimum To Keep Greece Solvent
“The latest Greek debt deal is at the behest of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the needs of the domestic political landscape there rather than about ensuring Greece’s long term economic well- being, analysts told CNBC Tuesday.
“They’ve done the bare minimum just to keep the show on the road to prevent Greece from falling apart and having to leave the euro in the next few months. They’ve not done enough to get Greece back to a sustainable economic or fiscal path,” Michael Saunders, chief economist for Western Europe at Citi, told CNBC Europe’s “Squawk Box”.
“A few months ago Merkel herself made a decision that Greece would not leave the euro until the German election is passed because she feared she herself would be blamed for any adverse political and economic consequences. That’s why this deal has been done. Merkel wants to keep the show on the road for the time being,” he said.
The latest deal, secured late on Monday, will see Greece’s debt level lowered to a more sustainable level and lead to the release of the next tranche of aid of $44 billion needed to keep the country solvent.”
Comments »$CAG to Buy $RAH for $4.95 Billion
“OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — ConAgra Foods is buying private-label food producer Ralcorp for about $4.95 billion, which will make it the biggest private-label packaged food business in North America.
ConAgra says the acquisition will strengthen its overall position in the North American packaged food business. ConAgra brands include Chef Boyardee, Egg Beaters, Peter Pan and Reddi-wip.
ConAgra Foods Inc. said Tuesday that it will pay Ralcorp Holdings Inc. stockholders $90 per share, a 28 percent premium….”
Comments »Fed’s Fisher Suggest QE Should be Limited
“BERLIN (Reuters) – Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher, a top Federal Reserve official, said on Tuesday the U.S. central bank could get into trouble if it doesn’t set a limit on the amount of assets it is willing to buy.
But Fisher, a critic of easy Fed policy, also said his main concern now was unemployment, not inflation.
He said another option the Fed might consider to signal its aims to markets was a target for unemployment, although this would be difficult because monetary policy alone was not responsible for creating jobs. Fiscal policy was also key.
Fisher kicked off his speech at a conference in Berlin with a reference to German policies in the 1920s that led to hyperinflation, saying that while inflation was not his main concern now, unlimited quantitative easing was risky.
“You cannot expand without limits without horrific consequences,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the conference organized by the Levy Economics Institute. “There is no infinity in monetary policy, we know that from the German experience.”
The Fed announced a third, open-ended round of asset purchases in September that it says will continue until there is a substantial turnaround in the labor market.
A self-described anti-inflation hawk, Fisher said the Fed should announce “sooner rather than later” limits on the amount of assets it would purchase, preferably in December.”
Comments »OECD Cuts Global Economic Forecasts Over Euro Zone Risks
“PARIS (Reuters) – The OECD slashed its global growth forecasts on Tuesday, warning that the debt crisis in the recession-hit euro zone is the greatest threat to the world economy.
In light of the dire economic outlook, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development urged central banks to prepare for more exceptional monetary easing if politicians fail to come up with credible answers to the debt crisis.
The Paris-based think-tank forecast in its twice-yearly Economic Outlook that the global economy would grow 2.9 percent this year before expanding 3.4 percent in 2013. The estimate marked a sharp downgrade since the OECD last estimated a rate in May of 3.4 percent for this year and 4.2 percent in 2013.
The euro zone is facing two years of economic contraction, while the United States risks a recession if lawmakers there fail to agree a deal to avoid a combination of tax hikes and budget cuts that will otherwise go into effect next year.
Providing the deadlock in Washington is overcome, the world’s biggest economy will grow 2.0 percent next year, the OECD estimated, cutting its forecast from 2.6 percent in May.
“The U.S. fiscal cliff is a very important source of concern, but the greatest downside risk remains the euro zone,” OECD chief economist Pier Carlo Padoan told Reuters in an interview.
“The reason for that is not only recession, but also the fact that different negative policy (feedback) loops between sovereign debt, the banking situation and exit risks remain. So the overall zone remains in a state of fragility.”
Cutting its estimates, the OECD forecast that the euro zone economy would contract 0.4 percent this year and another 0.1 percent next year, only returning to growth in 2014 with a rate of 1.3 percent.”
Comments »$ADT Approves a $2 Billion Repurchase Program
“ADT Corp. (ADT) authorized a $2 billion share repurchase program and initiated a quarterly dividend after investors George Soros and hedge-fund manager Keith Meister called on the home-security company to buy back stock.
The buyback will end in November 2015 and the quarterly dividend will amount to 12.5 cents a share, the Boca Raton, Florida-based company said in a statement today. ADT was spun off from Tyco International Ltd. (TYC) in September.”
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Black Gold Fails to Rally on Global Supply Glut
“Oil traded near its lowest level in almost a week in New York as a forecast that U.S. crude supplies increased balanced optimism that a new agreement on aid for Greece will help resolve Europe’s debt turmoil.
Futures were little changed, paring an earlier advance of as much as 0.6 percent. U.S. crude inventories probably rose 500,000 barrels last week, a Bloomberg News survey of analysts before an Energy Department report tomorrow showed. European Union ministers agreed to help Greece manage its debt burden in talks in Brussels that lasted 13 hours, an EU official said early today. The OECD cut growth forecasts and warned of the risk of a “major” global recession.
“The positive outcome on Greece has already been priced in,” said Andrey Kryuchenkov, an analyst at VTB Capital in London who predicts Brent crude may slide to $110 a barrel this month. “Now attention is turning to fundamentals and they are far from ideal.”
Crude for January delivery was at $87.91 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 12:13 p.m. London time, having gained as much as 51 cents to $88.25 a barrel. The contract decreased 54 cents yesterday to $87.74, the lowest since Nov. 21. Prices are down 11 percent this year.
Brent for January settlement rose 16 cents to $111.08 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The European benchmark contract was at a premium of $23.17 to West Texas Intermediate, compared with $23.18 yesterday.”
Comments »Airbus Puts Out an Ad Likening Boeing to Pinocchio
China Stock Prices Hit Four Year Lows
“China’s stocks fell, with the benchmark index closing below 2,000 for the first time since 2009, as the value of shares traded slumped to the lowest in four years. Material and health-care companies led losses.
The Shanghai Composite Index (SHCOMP) dropped 1.3 percent to 1,991.17 at the 3 p.m. local-time close, its lowest level since Jan. 23, 2009. Shares worth 33.1 billion yuan ($5.3 billion) changed hands in the measure yesterday, the least since Nov. 7, 2008, while data showed that the number of A-share trading accounts that made transactions last week fell to 5.6 million, the lowest for a five-day week since at least January 2008.
“Investors are voting with their feet,” Zhang Ling, general manager at Shanghai River Fund Management Co., said by phone. “Regulators need to roll out policies such as encouraging more investments in the biggest stocks to restore investors’ confidence.” ”
Comments »Speculators Get Bullish on Commodities for the First time in Two Months
“Speculators raised bullish commodity wagers for the first time since early October as signs of improving economic growth in the U.S. and China pushed prices higher for three straight weeks.
Hedge funds and other money managers increased combined net-long positions across 18 U.S. futures and options by 9.6 percent to 846,321 contracts in the week ended Nov. 20, Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show. That was the biggest gain since mid-August. Corn holdings rose the most since July, and those on silver reached a five-week high.”
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The Aussie Dollar Hits Two month Highs on Greek Debt Deal
“The Australian dollar touched its highest level in two months as euro-area finance ministers reached agreements on Greece’s debt burden and its funding gap.
The so-called Aussie advanced versus most of its 16 major counterparts as officials cut the indebted nation’s interest rates and gave it more time to pay back rescue loans. New Zealand’s currency, known as the kiwi, snapped a decline from yesterday as a fifth day of gains in Asian stocks outweighed a report today that showed the nation’s annual trade deficit widened to the most in more than three years.”
Comments »Muddy Waters LLC Likens Olam Commodity Trading to Enron
“Muddy Waters LLC, the research firm founded by short seller Carson Block, likened commodity trader Olam International Ltd. to energy trader Enron Corp. saying it runs a high risk of failure.
Muddy Waters rated Singapore-based Olam a strong sell in a 133-page report posted on its website today, saying it values “Olam on a liquidation basis because our opinion is that it is likely to fail.” It estimates the present value of Olam’s debt at 14 to 33 cents on the dollar.”
Comments »Mining Strikes in South Africa Curb GDP Growth Across the Board
Sout Africa’s GDP grew at its slowest pace in years to an annualized rate of 1.2%
Comments »Global Markets Trade Up Less Than You Would Expect on Greek Debt Deal
Global markets reacted positively to a Greek debt solution, but less than you would expect. German bunds fell on the agreement while Greek bonds rallied. The Euro is actually down on the news while gold and oil remain flat.
Comments »Asia Trades Up, Europe a Bit More, and U.S. Futures are Essentially Flat
Hewlett Packard Hit With Civil Lawsuit Over Autonomy Writedown
“SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Hewlett-Packard Co was sued on Monday by an investor who claimed the company knew statements about its Autonomy acquisition were misleading and led the stock to fall, according to lawyers representing the plaintiff.
The proposed class action lawsuit was filed in a San Francisco federal court.
HP dropped a bombshell last Tuesday with an $8.8 billion write-down on its acquisition of British software firm Autonomy, saying the company inflated sales with improper accounting. Autonomy co-founder Mike Lynch has denied any wrongdoing.
HP bought Autonomy for a hefty $11.1 billion last year. HP has said it alerted regulators on both sides of the Atlantic.”
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