Your dead until deflation grabs hold again….
Comments »Japan’s Economy Shrinks Nearly Double The Estimates in Q4
Asia Trades Mixed While Europe and U.S. Futures Shoot to the Upside
Dow falls 89 points, its biggest one-day drop this year
LOL
The Dow had its worst one-day drop in 2012 as it fell 89.23 points, or 0.7%, to 12,801.23 on Friday. The index had otherwise been within striking distance to cross 13,000 for the first time since 2008.
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VIX Bets Surge After S&P 500’s Best Start Since 1991: Options
Demand has never been greater for an exchange-traded note that appreciates when U.S. stock volatility rises, pushed up by speculators after equities posted their best start to a year since 1991.
The market value of the VelocityShares Daily 2x VIX Short- Term ETN, which aims to produce twice the daily return of the Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, more than tripled this year to a record $514 million. Issued shares rose more than sixfold to 33.8 million between Dec. 30 and Feb. 7.
Stocks have gained in 2012 following better-than-estimated jobs data, driving down measures of equity volatility. Now, after the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rallied 7.5 percent, investors are buying the ETN in case the advance fizzles and price swings surge, said Glenmede Trust Co.’s Sean Heron. The VelocityShares security rose 135 percent in August after S&P cut the U.S. government’s credit rating, roiling markets.
“It’s a convenient way to own volatility,” Heron, who manages options strategies at Philadelphia-based Glenmede, said yesterday in a phone interview. His firm oversees $20 billion. “People want to own the VIX, people want to be long volatility and protect their assets.”
Increasing use of exchange-traded VIX products has driven volume and open interest for its futures to new highs. The futures have an open interest of about 190,000 and reached a record 248,976 in June. That’s up from an average of 179,253 last year and 91,481 in 2010, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
Read the rest here.
Comments »Market Update
Comments »Today’s descent has dashed the modest gains that stocks achieved in each of the three preceding sessions. As a consequence, the S&P 500 is now down 0.3% for the week. Should that persist, stocks will book their first weekly loss in six weeks. The streak of five straight weekly gains is the best stretch for the stock market since it scored seven straight to round out 2010 and start 2011.
Today’s Money Flows
ISSUE GAINERS SYMBOL EXCH LAST PRICE MONEY FLOW RATIO
(in millions)
Apple AAPL NASD 495.77 +92.3 1.06
SPDR Gold Tr GLD ARCA 167.42 +71.1 1.64
Microsoft MSFT NASD 30.61 +31.1 1.77
General Electric GE NYSE 18.87 +24.8 1.85
SPDR DJ Intl Real Estate RWX ARCA 35.32 +23.1 72.50
Nuance Comm NUAN NASD 26.52 +20.0 1.35
Praxair PX NYSE 107.33 +19.1 2.15
EMC Corp EMC NYSE 26.14 +18.9 2.69
Philip Morris Intl PM NYSE 79.93 +17.1 1.59
Occidental Pete OXY NYSE 102.40 +15.1 1.76
LyondellBasell Inds LYB NYSE 44.92 +14.1 1.32
VISA (Cl A) V NYSE 112.95 +12.3 1.25
AT&T T NYSE 29.86 +11.1 1.63
Expedia EXPE NASD 33.40 +11.0 1.57
iShr FTSE China 25 FXI ARCA 38.89 +10.1 1.47
Corning Inc GLW NYSE 13.75 +9.8 1.72
Motorola Mobility Hldgs MMI NYSE 39.25 +9.7 2.43
Citigroup C NYSE 33.07 +9.5 1.13
Berkshire Hathaway B BRK/B NYSE 78.57 +8.4 1.42
Qualcomm QCOM NASD 61.64 +8.2 1.29
ISSUE DECLINERS SYMBOL EXCH LAST PRICE MONEY FLOW RATIO
(in millions)
Select Sector SPDR-Finl XLF ARCA 14.56 -40.6 0.28
Cisco Systems CSCO NASD 20.04 -37.5 0.55
SPDR S&P 500 SPY ARCA 134.26 -36.0 0.94
iShrs Russell 2000 IWM ARCA 81.41 -25.0 0.76
ConocoPhillips COP NYSE 72.19 -24.3 0.69
Google GOOG NASD 606.47 -23.4 0.87
Danaher Corp DHR NYSE 51.50 -19.8 0.46
Whole Foods Market WFM NASD 80.90 -17.9 0.58
PwrShrs QQQ Tr Series 1 QQQ NASD 62.54 -17.3 0.81
Bank Of America BAC NYSE 8.07 -16.4 0.87
LinkedIn Cl A LNKD NYSE 85.53 -13.6 0.88
Ironwood Pharm Inc IRWD NASD 15.30 -12.5 0.44
Coca-Cola KO NYSE 67.55 -10.7 0.55
United Technologies UTX NYSE 82.96 -10.4 0.70
Solutia SOA NYSE 28.09 -9.1 0.21
JPMorgan Chase JPM NYSE 37.71 -9.1 0.78
SPDR DJIA Tr DIA ARCA 127.64 -8.4 0.79
CF Ind Hldgs CF NYSE 181.35 -8.4 0.79
Oracle ORCL NASD 28.38 -8.3 0.79
Mosaic MOS NYSE 55.01 -8.2 0.61
Comments »
Today’s Heat Map and the S&P A/D Line
Most Active Options Trades
-CALLS- OPTION EXP.DATE STRIKE PRC. VOLUME LAST S/PRC. NET CHANGE AAPL 2/18/12 490.0000 708 10.3500 up 1.5500 AAPL 2/18/12 480.0000 629 18.7800 up 3.1300 AAPL 2/10/12 495.0000 472 1.5600 dn 0.6900 LVS 2/10/12 52.5000 328 0.2300 dn 0.1500 TZA 2/18/12 20.0000 235 0.5300 up 0.2300 DD 2/18/12 52.5000 233 0.1000 dn 0.1000 AAPL 2/18/12 495.0000 229 7.1000 up 0.8200 BP 3/17/12 50.0000 207 0.2800 dn 0.1600 BP 3/17/12 47.0000 207 1.1300 dn 0.2500 AAPL 2/10/12 490.0000 175 5.2500 up 0.8000 -PUTS- OPTION EXP.DATE STRIKE PRC. VOLUME LAST S/PRC. NET CHANGE AAPL 2/10/12 495.0000 280 2.7600 dn 1.1900 BP 3/17/12 44.0000 207 0.9600 up 0.1200 AAPL 2/10/12 485.0000 191 0.3000 dn 0.2800 AAPL 2/10/12 490.0000 172 0.8900 dn 0.8100 AA 3/17/12 10.0000 144 0.3000 up 0.1000 DIA 3/17/12 124.0000 112 1.4500 up 0.3000 AAPL 2/18/12 490.0000 111 5.4000 dn 0.4000 GLD 3/17/12 165.0000 111 3.0500 up 0.6300 GLD 2/10/12 166.0000 101 0.1700 up 0.0000 DELL 5/19/12 20.0000 100 2.5200 up 0.1400 -VOLUME- CALLS PUTS TOTAL 17881 22018 39899
-CALLS- OPTION EXP.DATE STRIKE PRC. VOLUME LAST S/PRC. NET CHANGE GM 1/19/13 40.0000 27334 0.2900 dn 0.0600 GM 1/19/13 30.0000 7000 1.7700 dn 0.0300 AAPL 2/10/12 495.0000 4336 1.6900 dn 0.5600 AAPL 2/18/12 500.0000 2805 5.3000 up 0.8000 FTR 2/18/12 4.0000 2372 0.2400 dn 0.0100 COP 5/19/12 75.0000 2221 1.4800 up 0.1100 MS 2/10/12 20.0000 2215 0.1000 dn 0.2900 AAPL 2/18/12 490.0000 2140 9.7500 up 1.0000 AAPL 2/10/12 490.0000 2005 4.9700 up 0.0500 TBT 6/16/12 17.0000 1983 2.9200 dn 0.2300 -PUTS- OPTION EXP.DATE STRIKE PRC. VOLUME LAST S/PRC. NET CHANGE AAPL 2/10/12 490.0000 2916 1.0500 dn 0.6000 FTR 2/18/12 4.0000 2899 0.1500 up 0.0500 BAC 2/10/12 8.0000 2306 0.0400 up 0.0100 GS 2/18/12 105.0000 2018 0.2400 up 0.0500 SWN 3/17/12 36.0000 2000 3.5000 dn 0.0500 SWN 2/18/12 36.0000 2000 2.6000 dn 0.0600 BAC 8/18/12 7.0000 1854 0.6000 up 0.0500 JOY 2/18/12 82.5000 1713 1.2000 up 0.4200 BAC 2/18/12 8.0000 1693 0.1900 up 0.0400 OSG 4/21/12 11.0000 1584 1.9000 up 0.4500 -VOLUME- CALLS PUTS TOTAL 420092 424240 844332Comments »
Bullish Sentiment Surges to New Highs
“Bullish sentiment jumped to its highest level since January 13, 2011, in the latest AAII Sentiment Survey.
Bullish sentiment, expectations that stock prices will rise over the next six months, reached 51.6%. The 7.8-percentage-point increase drove optimism to an unusually high level, but not an extraordinarily high level. Bullish sentiment is now above its historical average of 39% for eight out of the past nine weeks.
Neutral sentiment, expectations that stock prices will stay essentially flat over the next six months, declined 2.9 percentage points to 28.2%. This is just the second time in six weeks that neutral sentiment has been below its historical average of 31%.
Bearish sentiment, expectations that stock prices will fall over the next six months, fell 4.9 percentage points to 20.2%. This the seventh time in the past eight weeks that bearish sentiment has been below its historical average of 30%.
Bullish sentiment is now more than one standard deviation above its historical average, placing it above the typical range that has been registered over the course of the survey. The difference between bullish and bearish sentiment (the bull-bear spread) is also unusually high at 31.5%, but not so high as to create caution that individual investors are too optimistic….”
Comments »Warren Buffet’s Favorite Indicator Still Chugging Along
“No signs of economic slow-down in this week’s rail data. Consistent with recent readings, rail traffic remained strong this week with carloads posting gains of 6.2% and intermodal traffic reporting 16.8% gains. The 10 week average ticked up to 6.5% for intermodal traffic while the first five weeks of the year logged a 4.5% gain versus last year. AAR has the details: Full report
Comments »Michigan Sentiment: Prior 75, Market Expects 74, Actual 72.5
U.S. Equity Preview: XL, TRLG, PL, NUAN, LKND, LEA, LF, & ATVI
Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) : The largest video-game publisher posted fourth-quarter profit that exceeded analysts’ estimates on sales of “Call of Duty.” The company’s forecast for this quarter fell short of projections.
Leapfrog Enterprises Inc. (LF) : The maker of electronic educational products for children forecast 2012 earnings would be 40 cents to 45 cents a share, compared with the average analyst projection for 43 cents, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
Lear Corp. (LEA) : The maker of seats and other automobile parts boosted its quarterly dividend to 14 cents a share, from 12.5 cents a share. The Bloomberg forecast was for 15 cents.
LinkedIn Corp. (LNKD) (LNKD US): The biggest professional- networking website reported fourth-quarter sales that more than doubled and profit that topped analysts’ estimates as advertising and subscription revenue increased.
Nuance Communications Inc. (NUAN) : The developer of voice-command technology reported first-quarter earnings excluding some items that missed the average analyst forecast by 5 percent.
Protective Life Corp. (PL) : The Birmingham, Alabama- based insurance company reported fourth-quarter earnings excluding certain items of $1.02 a share, beating the average analyst projection of 83 cents.
True Religion Apparel Inc. (TRLG) : The seller of jeans’ 2012 earnings and revenue forecasts missed the average estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
XL Group Plc (XL) : The insurer and reinsurer reported a fourth-quarter loss of 25 cents a share, compared with the average analyst estimate for a profit of 15 cents, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
Comments »Gapping Up and Down This Morning
Gapping up
ALU +16%, SWIR +13%, LNKD +9%, NXPI +6.4%, BRKS +6.3%, VPFG +5%, CBB +4.6%, AKRX +4.5%, BCS +4.4%, CBOE +3.9%, PMC +3.7%, CIE +2.9%, CARB +1.7%,
Gapping down
NGSX -23.8%, TRLG -22.4%, VALV -15.6%, XIDE -14.3%, NUAN -11.3%, GSVC -10.2%, LF -9.1%, UNIS -8%, EXPE -6.7%, LGF -6.4%, GDI -6%, HALO -5.4%,
EXEL -4.6%, EVEP -4.1%, CPST -3.6%, XL -2.9%, STMP -2.8%, AMKR -1.9%, TOT -1%
Comments »In Play and On the Wires
U.S. Trade Balance: Prior -$47.8 Billion, Market Expects -$48.2 Billion, Actual -$48.8
BAC Becomes the Focus of High Frequency Trading
Factory Output in India Climb 1.8%; Missing Expectations
Asian Markets Fall While Europe Gets Blown Up…U.S. Futures Not Looking So Great Either
52 Week Highs and Lows
NYSE
New Highs 108 COMPANY SYMBOL HIGH VOLUME ------- ------ ---- ------ Acadia Realty Trust AKR 22.31 39,580 Advance Auto Parts AAP 79.65 159,413 Alliance Data Sys ADS 118.00 50,764 Amer States Water AWR 37.91 8,859 American Tower REIT AMT 64.00 194,929 Ametek AME 48.65 39,846 Anheuser Busch BUD 65.08 181,765 BB&T Corp BBT 29.83 1,650,558 BlackRockFL Muni 2020 BFO 15.67 1,100 BlkRk MuniHldgs Inv MFL 15.40 31,932 BlkRd MuniYld Michigan II MYM 15.36 2,841 BlRk Muyld NY Qlty MYN 14.93 18,327 BlackRock NY Municipal Tr BNY 16.36 2,245 Bonanza Creek Energy BCEI 17.79 29,062 Centene CNC 48.17 106,544 Chipotle Mexican Grill CMG 377.69 77,749 Cobalt Intl Engy CIE 23.87 372,805 CompanhiaSBEDP SBS 70.90 29,809 CoreSite Realty COR 21.39 32,810 DWS Hi Incm Opps Fd DHG 15.32 12,746 Delphi Fincl DFG 44.80 50,757 Eagle Materials EXP 33.54 32,345 EastGroup Properties EGP 50.42 9,063 Ecopetrol EC 53.30 21,520 Enbridge Inc ENB 39.43 39,720 Equifax Inc EFX 41.47 396,625 Ethan Allen ETH 25.75 29,761 Fifth Thrd Cp Tr VI 7.25% FTBpB 25.73 5,098 Flaherty & Crumrine Pfd PFO 11.87 4,483 GP Strategies GPX 15.98 41,315 Greenway Medical Techs GWAY 15.79 19,300 Group 1 Auto GPI 57.71 63,387 HCP HCP 42.75 147,665 Health Care REIT HCN 57.66 148,150 Heartland Payment HPY 27.41 731,353 Hels Advantage Inco Fd HAV 8.56 5,755 Helios Multi-Sec Inco Fd HMH 5.82 1,853 Hexcel Corp HXL 26.81 35,560 Huaneng Power HNP 25.00 18,506 Hubbell B HUB/B 75.16 13,687 Invesco Van Kampen Mun Tr VKQ 14.97 25,633 Jabil Circuit JBL 24.45 452,488 Just Energy Group JE 12.99 33,272 Kenexa KNXA 30.48 100,349 Kennedy-Wilson Hldgs KW 14.13 2,540 Kilroy Realty KRC 43.40 1,941,593 Las Vegas Sands LVS 52.70 1,695,428 Lennar Corp A LEN 23.53 365,932 Lockheed Martin LMT 87.97 255,504 Lorillard Inc LO 121.96 654,763 LyondellBasell Inds LYB 45.12 417,516 MFS Charter MCR 9.65 11,954 MFS Hi Inc Muni CXE 5.62 7,458 MI Developments MIM 37.01 4,300 Main Street Capital MAIN 22.82 28,251 MarkWest MWE 59.67 31,282 MarriottVacations VAC 23.22 11,681 Mastercard MA 401.79 209,329 Michael Kors Holdings KORS 33.97 176,122 Motorola Mobility Hldgs MMI 39.41 9,129,060 Nuveen AZ Premium Income NAZ 14.82 100 Nuveen CA Muni Mkt NCO 15.69 3,086 Nuveen CA Quality Income NUC 16.63 6,572 Nuveen Mich Premium Inc NMP 14.90 1,443 Nuveen NY Div Fnd NAN 15.01 4,276 Nuveen NY Performnce Plus NNP 16.33 2,373 Nuveen Fd2 JPS 8.75 34,332 Oceaneering Intl OII 53.51 46,892 Ocwen Fincl OCN 15.41 32,314 Oxford Indus OXM 52.20 10,534 Pall Corp PLL 63.54 132,457 Plains All Amer Pipeline PAA 79.10 61,827 Pretium Resources PVG 17.54 15,900 Provident Energy PVX 12.09 164,745 PulteGroup PHM 8.93 2,084,768 RLJ Lodging Trust RLJ 19.11 5,248 RSC Hldgs RRR 22.32 58,537 Rackspce Host RAX 50.10 294,054 Realty Income O 37.64 71,533 Rex American Resources REX 27.83 2,850 Rite Aid RAD 1.61 900,126 Roadrunner Trans Sys RRTS 17.95 79,282 Rose Rock Midstream RRMS 22.73 5,400 Roundys RNDY 9.50 305,683 Sally Beauty Hldgs SBH 22.15 567,557 SeaDrill SDRL 39.00 220,276 Six Flags Entertainment SIX 46.51 621,282 AO Smith AOS 46.69 15,585 SolarWinds SWI 37.69 238,151 SYNNEX SNX 38.41 8,655 Systemax SYX 20.10 2,513 Targa Resources TRGP 44.18 25,473 Taubman Ctrs TCO 70.00 102,025 Teradata Cp TDC 63.73 1,239,413 Terra Nitrogen TNH 213.85 19,796 Transatlantic Hldgs TRH 58.50 30,659 TransDigm Group TDG 118.45 56,838 Tri-Continental TY 15.64 8,956 Triumph Group TGI 66.56 27,848 Tyler Tech TYL 37.67 10,815 Utd Rentals URI 41.90 205,204 Universal Corp UVV 48.90 28,501 Valspar Corp VAL 44.50 25,578 VISA (Cl A) V 114.90 3,562,966 Wstrn Asset Gl Def Opp Fd GDO 19.24 73,945 Western Asset Mun Tr Fund MTT 23.49 12,332 World Fuel Svcs INT 47.87 80,689 Wyndham Worldwide WYN 44.40 495,117 New Lows 2 COMPANY SYMBOL LOW VOLUME ------- ------ ---- ------ CARBO Ceramics CRR 89.54 173,269 KT Crp ADS KT 14.24 247,888
NASDAQ
New Highs 58 COMPANY SYMBOL HIGH VOLUME ------- ------ ---- ------ Ansys ANSS 64.62 24,506 Abiomed ABMD 23.85 80,215 Alexion Pharm ALXN 83.10 760,441 Amerco UHAL 113.78 19,894 Amer Cap Mortgage Invt MTGE 20.65 155,064 Apple AAPL 486.02 5,304,792 Ascena Retail Group ASNA 36.42 17,934 RG Barry DFZ 13.92 4,775 Beacon Roofing Supply BECN 25.00 220,690 Buffalo Wild Wings BWLD 84.37 347,171 CA Inc CA 26.93 401,061 Cadence Design Systems CDNS 11.86 196,268 Cintas CTAS 38.29 49,650 Colony Bankcorp CBAN 5.49 8,718 Comcast CMCSA 27.31 1,110,766 Comcast A Sp CMCSK 26.13 248,950 CommVault Systems CVLT 53.36 23,973 Cumberland Pharm Inc CPIX 7.55 89,804 DXP Enterprises DXPE 39.19 6,729 Dell DELL 18.20 1,652,677 ePlus Inc PLUS 34.00 500 Equinix EQIX 130.68 66,304 FEI Co FEIC 48.31 163,327 Fastenal Co FAST 48.96 173,223 Fidelity Nasdaq Cmp-Trckg ONEQ 115.82 6,915 First Merchants FRME 10.36 2,695 Franklin Electric Co FELE 53.65 3,042 German American Bancorp GABC 21.75 1,100 Halcon Resources HK 4.25 397,533 Healthcare Services Group HCSG 20.91 53,181 Infinity Prprty & Caslty IPCC 68.53 2,604 Inhibitex INHX 25.87 80,054 InnerWorkings INWK 11.89 12,519 Innodata Isogen INOD 5.39 13,644 iSh All Cntry exJap SmCp AXJS 58.48 600 Microsoft MSFT 30.75 5,709,651 NewsCorp B NWS 20.32 878,546 PwrShrs QQQ Tr Series 1 QQQ 62.74 7,500,923 PwrShs SP SmCp Cons Discr PSCD 31.67 2,362 Procera Networks PKT 18.74 26,087 ProShares UltraPro QQQ TQQQ 95.85 161,816 Regeneron Pharmaceuticals REGN 103.48 118,398 SLM 6.00% Sr. Nts 2043 JSM 21.94 2,585 Saba Software SABA 11.60 236,295 SeagateTech STX 27.30 1,982,798 Select Comfort SCSS 29.61 1,073,789 Starbucks SBUX 49.36 1,059,224 Sucampo Pharm (Cl A) SCMP 6.84 9,738 Synopsys SNPS 30.11 107,583 TF Fincl THRD 26.50 1,400 Taleo (Cl A) TLEO 45.55 16,376,292 Taylor Capital Group TAYC 13.63 1,200 Tegal TGAL 4.79 97,775 Tessco Techs TESS 18.63 1,133 Utd Natural Foods UNFI 48.18 54,042 ValueClick VCLK 20.27 257,168 Vanguard Russ 1000 Growth VONG 64.75 250 Whole Foods Market WFM 81.00 2,012,446 New Lows 3 COMPANY SYMBOL LOW VOLUME ------- ------ ---- ------ Diamond Foods DMND 21.44 10,371,587 Oculus Innovative Sci OCLS 0.93 12,440 ProShr Ul Sh QQQ SQQQ 13.74 263,362Comments »
