ECB Hints at Rate Hikes in April
SEC Questions Google Over Earnings in Foreign Countries
Korea National Oil Corp. To Pay $1.55 Billion For Anadarko Shale Stake
Northrop Grumman Gets a $1.1 Billion Task Order From U.S. Government
Unusual Options Activity Today
Bullish Call Activity:
- S calls are seeing interest with weakness in the underlying stock following T/DTEGY news. So far today 54.9K total calls have traded vs 17.4K total puts. Most notable are the S May 5.5 calls (volume: 36.4K, open int: 12.9K, implied vol: ~57%, prev day implied vol: 47%)
- EXPR Apr 16.94 calls are seeing interest ahead of earnings Mar 22 before the open (volume: 2550, open int: 310, implied vol: ~56%, prev day implied vol: 46%)
- DANG Apr 19 calls are seeing interest following M&A speculation (volume: 2290, open int: 730, implied vol: ~73%, prev day implied vol: 70%)
Bearish Put Activity:
- FCN Jan12 40 puts (volume: 1460, open int: 170, implied vol: ~31%, prev day implied vol: 30%) — co is expected to report earnings early May
- MNKD May 4 puts (volume: 2010, open int: 5160, implied vol: ~65%, prev day implied vol: 64%) — co is expected to report earnings early May
Sentiment: The CBOE Put/Call ratio is currently: 0.78… VIX: (20.65, -3.79, -15.5%).
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Shipping Companies Could Benefit From Japan’s Disaster
Supply Chain Disruption Could Be Worse Than First Feared
Robert Pretcher, Of Elliott Wave, on 6 Potential Trend Reversals
Today’s Gainers and Losers
The following are some of today’s most notable movers of interest, categorized by market capitalization (large cap over $10 billion and mid cap between $2-10 billion) and ranked by % change (all stocks over 100K average daily volume).
Large Cap Gainers
- CCJ (31.35 +6.65%): uranium co seeing strength following sell off
- CHU (16.08 +5.1%): select telecom and communication related stocks showing strength
- QCOM (53.73 +3.91%): upgraded to Buy at Sterne Agee; select telecom and communication related stocks showing strength
- PCAR (50.22 +3.63%): upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS
- T (28.44 +1.79%): agreed to buy T-Mobile for $39 bln; upgraded to Buy at Citigroup
Large Cap Losers
- S (4.43 -12.18%): weakness attributed to T’s acqusition of T-Mobile
- AMT (46.75 -7.65%); CCI (37.15 -5.13%): tower related names showing weakness due to T’s acqusition of T-Mobile
Mid Cap Gainers
- TIF (61.42 +7.21%): beat EPS with in-line revs; guided Q1 and FY12 EPS and revs above consensus
- SWC (21.87 +5.55%): select metals/mining stocks showing strength
- ATML (11.95 +4.99%): upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Gleacher
- PCS (15.65 +4.82%): select telecom and communication related stocks showing strength
- AWI (45.45 +3.84%): upgraded to Top Pick with target raised to $50 at RBC Capital
Mid Cap Losers
- SBAC (37.19 -8.4%): tower related names showing weakness due to T’s acqusition of T-Mobile
- MMI (25.27 -3.81%): select handset makers showing weakness, attributed to T’s acqusition of T-Mobile
- CF (125.51 -1.48%): downgraded to Sell at Goldman
Market Internals Mid Morning
The S&P Energy Index (+2.5%) is sharply higher this morning and is the largest advancing sector in the broader market (+1.6%).
Sector News: ATPG (+1.6%) received a permit to resume drilling the Mississippi Canyon Block 941 #4 well in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, on Friday afternoon. GPOR (+6.5%) commenced an underwritten public offering of 4 mln shares of its common stock. The co was also initiated with a Buy at Sidoti. APC (+3%) announced a joint-venture agreement with a subsidiary of Korea National Oil whereby KNOC will earn approximately 1/3 of co’s interest in its Maverick Basin assets, located in southwest Texas, for ~$1.55 bln.PTR (+2.9%) and a subsidiary of Saudi Aramco signed a Memorandum of Understanding related to the planned development of a 10 million metric tons per annum (200,000 barrels per day) grassroots full conversion refinery in Yunnan Province in the People’s Republic of China.
Broker Calls: GEVO (-0.3%) was initiated with Overweight at Piper Jaffray. EXH (+4.9%) was upgraded to Outperform at Credit Suisse. TSS (+1.4%) was initiated with a Hold at Citigroup.
Futures: A spike in the dollar index, and poor econ data, has pushed April WTI crude oil ($102.01 +$0.94) to its worst levels of the morning. It it still in positive territory in mid-morning trade, however. April natural gas ($4.216 +$0.048) has rallied off its session lows to trade to fresh highs at $4.228, a fresh ~2 week high.
Stock indices opened on a strong note and have extended. Top performing sectors include: Telecom TTH +2.3%, Coal KOL +2.2%, Silver SLV +2.1%, Energy XLE +2%, Energy XLE +2%, Technology XLK +2%, Disk Drive +2%, Ag/Chem MOO +2%, Semi SMH +1.9%, Industrial +1.9%, Casino BJK +1.8%, Broker IAI +1.6%, Defense PPA +1.6%, Software IGV +1.5% (MSFT +2.6%)
BONDS
Treasuries moved to their worst levels of the session following word the U.S. Treasury would unwind its $142 bln mortgage portfolio. The announcement will put an additional $10 bln of supply on the market each month, and will compete with Treasuries for dollars. The complex saw little reaction to another disappointing housing number as existing home sales fell short of expectations. Yields across the curve continue to hover just below session highs with the 10-yr near 3.35%. A slighty steeper yield curve continues as the 2-10-yr spread hangs out near 270 while the 10-30-yr spread is flatter at 112. Precious metals trade higher with spot gold up 12 dollars to 1431 and spot silver higher by 63 cents at 35.90. Click here to see a 5 minute 10-yr yield chart.
2-yr -03/32 @ 99 30/32
3-yr -07/32 @ 100 11/32
5-yr -14/32 @ 100 12/32
7-yr -18/32 @ 100 05/32
10-yr -20/32 @ 102 09/32
30-yr -24/32 @ 104 20/32
Schwab To Acquire Options Express
$1 billion in stock for OXPS share holders. Stock up 15% . Also a lawsuit has been filed to explore the violation of share holder protection laws…..
Comments »Motor City to Follow Japan’s Lead on Paying Auto Workers
Fed to Unload $142 Billion in MBS
Commodities Lead the Charge in Broad Based Rally
The dollar index spiked back near the unchanged line about an hour ago, which pulled select commodities lower including crude oil.
April crude oil has been in positive territory all session, but pulled back ~$1/barrel to new session lows of $101.93/barrel on the spike in the dollar index earlier. It’s now back above the $102 level, now up 1.1% at $102.16/barrel.
April natural gas fell quickly after pit trading opened, falling into negative territory and new session lows of $4.116/MMBtu. It’s erased over half of its losses and is now 0.8% higher at $4.20/MMBtu.
Precious metals have shown strength all morning. April gold is currently up 1% at $1430.3/ounce, while May silver is 2.4% higher at $35.91/ounce. Industrial commodity copper is the worst performer in the CRB Index, showing losses of 1.2% at $4.29/lb
A broad-based bid has driven the three major equity averages to gains in excess of 1% in the early going. The buying effort comes amid improved sentiment among market participants, who first began to show a willingness to return to riskier holdings late last week after they had reacted fearfully to headlines out of Japan and the Middle East and North Africa region… Just released, the U.S. Treasury announced that it will begin to wind down its $142 billion Mortgage-Backed Securities Portfolio. Starting this month, the Treasury plans to sell up to $10 billion in agency-guaranteed mortgage-backed securities per month, subject to conditions. The idea of increased debt supply in the market has stirred selling interest among Treasuries, such that the yield on the benchmark 10-year Note is now back to 3.30%. Dow +1.7%, S&P 500 +1.5%, Nasdaq +1.7%
Comments »Bloomberg Lawsuit Against the Fed Gains Traction on Transparency
American Citizens Need More Media and Less Opinion
Existing Home Sales: Previous 5.36m, Market Expects 5.05m, Actual 4.88m…Median Home Prices Fell 5.2% to $156k
Market Internals This Morning
Sector Summary: S&P Consumer Discretionary Index +1.3%, modestly underperforming the broader market
The consumer discretionary group is slightly trailing the broader market in early trade. The retail group is higher with the Retail HOLDRS Trust (RTH) up 0.8%, the S&P Retail (RLX) up 1.1% and the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) up 1.2%. Trading on upside: Tiffany & Co (TIF +6.5%) beat by $0.05, reported revs in-line; guided Q1 EPS, revs above consensus; guided FY12 EPS, revs above consensus… Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY +3.0%) upgraded to Mkt Perform at FBR Capital Trading on the downside:
Notable Mentions:
Select casino/gaming names are seeing early strength. Some names trading higher include: MPEL +3.1%, PNK +2.5%, LVS +2.5%,WYNN +1.8%, BYD +1.6%, PENN +1.5%.
Other notable mentions: Feihe Intl (ADY) missed by $0.03, beat on revs; guided FY11 above consensus… Leaders: Supervalu (SVU+3.3%) strength attributed to positive mention in financial newspaper… New York Times (NYT +2.7%) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Citigroup… Illinois Tool (ITW +1.4%) reported 3-month (Feb) revs +11%; guided Q1, FY11 EPS and rev, restates FY10 EPS slightly lower to account for change in fiscal year reporting format… Rentrak (RENT +1.2%) CEO purchases ~$280,000 of common stock in open market; his total is just under 1% of total shares outstanding. The co also announced a TV Essentials contract with Documentary Channel, the leading network dedicated exclusively to airing the works of independent documentary filmmakers… Lowe’s (LOW +0.5%) and Home Depot (HD +1.0%) initiated with Neutral ratings at Nomura… Laggards: Smithfield Foods (SFD -0.8%) and Sanderson Farms (SAFM +1.0%) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman…
Comments »Stocks Explode Higher
The Dow is up 200, led by advances in banks and tech.
Additionally, beaten down uranium stocks are surging, led by gains in CCJ, DNN and URG.
Gold and silver are both moderately higher, 1-2%,
Comments »