Gapping Up and Down This Morning

NYSE

BBT, CENT, C, GTAT, HBI, MDVN, ONXX, PNRA, RF, SD, SWHC, USB, WFC

Full report

In Play ,

On the Wires 

“Duane Taylor was studying the humanities in community college and living in his own place when he lost his job in a round of layoffs. Then he found, and lost, a second job. And a third.

Now, with what he calls “lowered standards” and a tenuous new position at a Jack in the Box restaurant, Mr. Taylor, 24, does not make enough to rent an apartment or share one. He sleeps on a mat in a homeless shelter, except when his sister lets him crash on her couch.

“At any time I could lose my job, my security,” said Mr. Taylor, explaining how he was always the last hired and the first fired. “I’d like to be able to support myself. That’s my only goal.”

Across the country, tens of thousands of underemployed and jobless young people, many with college credits or work histories, are struggling to house themselves in the wake of the recession, which has left workers between the ages of 18 and 24 with the highest unemployment rate of all adults.

Those who can move back home with their parents — the so-called boomerang set — are the lucky ones. But that is not an option for those whose families have been hit hard by the economy, including Mr. Taylor, whose mother is barely scraping by while working in a laundromat. Without a stable home address, they are an elusive group that mostly couch surfs or sleeps hidden away in cars or other private places, hoping to avoid the lasting stigma of public homelessness during what they hope will be a temporary predicament…”

Full article

Source

“Sirius XM Radio has appointed James Meyer as chief executive officer on an interim basis. Meyer will replace Mel Karmazin, who has told the board of directors he will not renew his contract.

Meyer was previously president of sales and operations for the U.S. broadcasting company, which provides two satellite radio services.”

Source

“General Mills reported quarterly earnings Wednesday that beat analysts’ expectations.

The food maker’s shares rose in pre-market trading before the opening bell, following the news. (Click here to get real-time quotes for General Mills.)

Earnings excluding items rose to $541.6 million, or 82 cents per share, from $444.8 million, or 67 cents per share, in the year earlier period.

Revenue rose to $4.88 billion from $4.62 billion a year earlier, helped by its Yoki Alimentos business in Brazil.

Wall Street had expected General Mills to report earnings excluding items of 79 cents a share on $4.88 billion in revenue, according to Thomson Reuters consensus estimates. “

“NEW YORK (Reuters) – Industrial machinery maker SPX Corp is closing in on a roughly $4.2 billion deal to buy rival Gardner Denver Inc, as it makes progress in securing financing, a source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

A deal could value Wayne, Pennsylvania-based Gardner Denver at about $85 per share, the source said. Gardner Denver’s shares closed at $73.68 on Tuesday. SPX has a market value of $3.23 billion, compared to $3.62 billion for Gardner Denver.

SPX’s financial advisor Credit Suisse Group AG has been joined by Bank of America Corp andJPMorgan Chase & Co in efforts to raise debt for the deal, the source said on condition of anonymity because the talks are confidential.

A deal could value Wayne, Pennsylvania-based Gardner Denver at about nine times estimated 2012 earnings before earnings, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), the source said, cautioning details had yet to be finalized.

A deal announcement could come as early as this week though no final agreement has yet been reached and negotiations could still fall apart, the source added….”

“(Reuters) – Knight Capital Group Inc , which suffered a near-fatal trading error in August, said it will be acquired by electronic trading firm Getco Holdings Co in a deal valued at $1.4 billion in cash and stock.

The deal seals a whirlwind five months for Knight, which executes about 10 percent of U.S. equity trading volume.

The company was rescued by a group of investors led by Jefferies Group Inc and including Chicago-based Getco who injected $400 million after errant software sent millions of unintentional orders in the opening 45 minutes of the U.S. trading day on August 1.

Knight and Getco will combine to form a new publicly traded company. Knight shareholders other than Getco will have the right to elect either $3.75 per share in cash or one share of common stock in the new business.

The offer represents a 13 percent premium to Knight’s closing stock price of $3.33 on Tuesday. It is also a 51 percent premium to Knight’s closing price on November 23 when reports surfaced that the company was looking for buyers…”

Full report

“(Reuters) – FedEx Corp profit fell 11.9 percent in the second quarter, less than investors had feared, as the No. 2 U.S. package delivery company struggled to improve demand at its air freight business.

The company reported fiscal second-quarter earnings of $438 million, or $1.39 per share, on Wednesday, compared with $497 million, or $1.57 per share, a year earlier.

Disruptions relating to Superstorm Sandy – which walloped the East Coast late in October and killed more than 130 people – pulled earnings down by about 11 cents per share.

Factoring out those charges, profit was $1.50 per share, more than the $1.41 analysts had forecast, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

In premarket trading, the company’s shares were up 2 percent.

Memphis, Tennessee-based FedEx has been trying to improve profit at its air express business, which has seen demand fall as shippers turn to less costly ways of shipping goods. Operating profit at that unit, which accounts for more than half FedEx’s sales, fell 33 percent in the quarter.”

Full article

“(Reuters) – General Motors Co said on Wednesday it will buy back 200 million of its shares from theU.S. Treasury, which intends to sell the rest of its stake in the company over the next 15 months, bringing to an end ownership that led many to dub the automaker “Government Motors.”

Chief Financial Officer Dan Ammann said GM will pay $5.5 billion, or $27.50 a share for the Treasury stake in a deal expected to close by year end. Treasury said it will sell its remaining stake of about 300.1 million shares “through various means in an orderly fashion” over the next 12 to 15 months.

Treasury said it intends to begin its disposition of its remaining shares as soon as January.

GM received about $50 billion from the U.S. Treasury as part of its 2009 bankruptcy restructuring in 2009 under the Troubled Asset Relief Program. The government bailed out GM and Chrysler Group in a move to protect jobs, a number it put at more than 1 million…”

Full article

“LONDON (Reuters) – Ratings firm Fitch said on Wednesday it is more likely to strip the United Statesof its triple-A status if a political deal is not reached to halt $600 billion of spending cuts and tax hikes set for early next year.

“Failure to avoid the fiscal cliff … would exacerbate rather than diminish the uncertainty over fiscal policy, and tip the U.S. into an avoidable and unnecessary recession,” Fitch said in its 2013 global outlook, published on Wednesday.

“That could erode medium-term growth potential and financial stability. In such a scenario, there would be an increased likelihood that the U.S. would lose its AAA status.”

Full article

“Brazil’s inflation quickened more than analysts expected in the month through mid-December as food and service prices continued to rise even amid slower growth.

Prices as measured by the IPCA-15 price index rose 0.69 percent from Nov. 14 through Dec. 1, the fastest pace in 19 months, the national statistics agency said today. The median estimatefrom 41 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg was for a 0.64 percent increase. Annual inflation quickened to 5.78 percent compared with the 4.5 percent mid-point of the central bank’s target.

Policy makers have cut Brazil’s benchmark lending rate by 525 basis points since August 2011, more than any other Group of 20 nation, to a record 7.25 percent, and pledged to keep the rate at that level for a “prolonged period.” President Dilma Rousseff’s administration has also lowered sales taxes, eliminated payroll taxes, and reduced reserve requirements to boost economic growth…”

Full article

Gold got hammered yesterday and over night. Losses were pared by dip buyers.

Full article

“The euro strengthened to a seven- month high against the dollar after a German report showed business confidence improved this month more than economists forecast, boosting demand for the region’s assets.

The 17-nation currency appreciated for an eighth day against the dollar as stocks rose around the world, damping demand for the safety of the greenback. The yen fell to its lowest level since August 2011 against the euro on speculation the Bank of Japan (8301) will expand stimulus at a two-day meeting ending tomorrow. Norway’s krone rose before the central bank announces its monetary policy decision…”

Full article

“German business confidence increased for a second month in December, signaling Europe’s largest economy may support a euro-area recovery next year.

The Ifo institute’s business climate index, based on a survey of 7,000 executives, climbed to 102.4 from 101.4 in November. That’s the second straight increase after sentiment dropped to a 2 1/2 year low in October. Economists predicted a gain to 102, according to the median forecast of 43 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. ”

Full article

“French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici submitted to the cabinet a bill designed to force the country’s largest banks to fence off proprietary trading activities in dedicated units.

The product of months of discussions between industry and government officials, the bill would require banks including BNP Paribas SA (BNP) and Societe Generale SA (GLE) to split market activities that aren’t necessary to finance the economy into separately capitalized units, Moscovici said. The rules would also forbid banks from holding stakes in hedge funds and limit high- frequency trading and farm commodity speculation.”

Full article

“Axa SA (CS), France’s largest insurer, was downgraded by Standard & Poor’s as the economic slump in Europe weighs on results.

The insurer’s credit rating was cut to A- from A as “unfavorable investment market conditions and weak economic prospects are likely to dampen AXA group’s earnings growth,” the ratings firm said yesterday in a statement on the Paris- based company. ”

Full article

“In the Greek mountain town of Kastoria, less than an hour from the Albanian border, Kostas Tsitskos, 88, can’t afford fuel to heat his home against the winter’s cold. So he and his son live in a single bedroom, warmed by a small electric heater.

“One room is enough,” said Tsitskos, who lives on a 734 euro-a-month ($971) pension and doesn’t have the 1,000 euros a month he needs to buy heating oil.

Greece is facing a heating-oil crisis. With an economy that has contracted for five years and an unemployment rate at a record 25 percent, residents in northern Greece can’t heat their homes. Kastoria hasn’t received funds from the central government to warm schools and the mayor said he will close all 53 of them rather than let children freeze, a step already taken in a nearby town. Truckloads of wood are arriving from Bulgaria as families search for alternative fuels.

“This is the coldest place in Greece,” said Emmanouil Hatzisimeonidis, Kastoria’s mayor, in an interview in his office. “It’s winter from October to April. This year we are very lucky. Last year, it was snowing for four months.”

When temperatures fall below freezing, Tsitskos spends most of his time in his bedroom and rarely leaves the house, he said. For meals, he and his son move the electrical heater to the kitchen. Other older residents in the town spend their days at a senior center and cafes to save on heating costs, returning home only to sleep, he said….”

Full article

“China and India are set to negotiate the biggest price cut in three years to buy potash as they break a deadlock in meetings with Russian and North American producers that dominate the $24 billion market for the crop nutrient.

Indian talks have begun and China could start in January or February, said Oleg Petrov, marketing director for Russian supplier OAO Uralkali. The countries may pay as little as $430 a ton, down at least 8.5 percent, according to analysts at Credit Agricole Securities USA, Dahlman Rose & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc…”

Full article

Building permits @ 899k an increase of 3.6%