Comments »Washington (CNN) — President Barack Obama is expected to announce this week that 30,000 U.S. “surge” forces will be fully withdrawn from Afghanistan by the end of 2012, an administration official has told CNN.
Obama will deliver his highly anticipated speech on the troop drawdown on Wednesday.
The time-frame would give U.S. commanders another two “fighting” seasons with the bulk of U.S. forces still available for combat operations. Outgoing Defense Secretary Robert Gates has pushed for additional time to roll back Taliban gains in the country before starting any significant withdrawal — a position at odds with a majority of Americans, according to recent public opinion surveys.
Monthly Archives: June 2011
Reminder: Greek Confidence Vote Happens in 6 Hours from Now
On June 28th, they will vote on austerity.
Comments »Today’s Top Performing ETF’s
No. Ticker % Change
1 SOXL 7.45
2 TNA 5.70
3 TYH 5.40
4 ERX 5.28
5 TQQQ 5.07
6 DZK 5.00
7 UYM 4.95
8 NUGT 4.85
9 XIV 4.66
10 VNM 4.40
11 UKK 4.38
12 UWM 3.99
13 RUSS 3.83
14 USD 3.72
15 SIL 3.72
16 AYT 3.72
17 BGU 3.53
18 MVV 3.52
19 FAS 3.44
20 SAA 3.43
21 QLD 3.38
22 DIG 3.33
23 UPRO 3.32
24 XOP 3.27
25 XME 3.21
ChinaScams Running Hard
No. Ticker % Change Industry
1 SCEI 22.58 Chinese Burritos
2 CTFO 20.82 Chinese Burritos
3 HEAT 18.02 Chinese Burritos
4 RCON 12.80 Chinese Burritos
5 CHOP 12.16 Chinese Burritos
6 DATE 11.53 Chinese Burritos
7 FFHL 10.92 Chinese Burritos
8 BORN 9.41 Chinese Burritos
9 HRBN 9.36 Chinese Burritos
10 OINK 9.18 Chinese Burritos
11 QIHU 9.13 Chinese Burritos
12 XING 8.82 Chinese Burritos
13 HOGS 8.70 Chinese Burritos
14 VIT 8.61 Chinese Burritos
15 CCIH 8.00 Chinese Burritos
16 GFRE 7.61 Chinese Burritos
17 SINA 7.56 Chinese Burritos
18 CBPO 7.33 Chinese Burritos
19 CAAS 7.07 Chinese Burritos
20 CNTF 6.94 Chinese Burritos
21 AMCN 6.92 Chinese Burritos
22 LONG 6.91 Chinese Burritos
23 NTES 6.88 Chinese Burritos
24 LTON 6.72 Chinese Burritos
25 JOBS 6.69 Chinese Burritos
The Private Sector Continues to Improve Balance Sheets
Hurray ! Debt levels remain historically high, but credit worthiness is improving.
Comments »Flash: The Market is Ripping Tits
Tech heavy NASDAQ leading the way, up 1.7%.
Comments »Correction: SEC is NOT Charging Muddy Waters
Joey Bag of Donuts Reports on Doomsday Rumor “Floated by Short Sellers”
Bow Tie: Obama Should Resign Before Inflation Sparks Unrest
S&P Give U.S. Credit Rating a Negative Outlook
Gridlock is no good for our debt ceiling. Get ready for some fun come August….
Comments »Existing Home Sales: Prior 5.05 Million, Market Expects 4.79 Million, Actual 4.81 Million..Down 3.8%
Roach: Asia Needs to Guard Against American Zombies
Consumers in the U.S. have finally curtailed their spending after a recession. Balance sheet maintenance is in order. Can Asia make up the difference ? Especially with higher prices coming from Asia….
Comments »Pink Slips Roll in at RIMM
Breaking: The SEC Cracks Down on ChinaScams by Charging Muddy Waters
Although I believe Muddy Waters, Citron and others are scum bags, they are the lesser evil in this whole Chinese scam party being purported on investors. In an amazing display of ineptitude, instead of targeting the companies who lost investors billions, the SEC is going after the short sellers who accurately called a scam a scam: Muddy Waters.
via SEC Newswire:
Comments »Additional Materials
Litigation Release No. 21053
SEC Complaint
The SEC alleges that Carson Block, who resides in Hong Kong carried out the market manipulation schemes with others he met through a stock web site, which is operated by Matthew Brown of Aliso Viejo, Calif. Block, Brown, and other participants in the schemes often timed the manipulative trading to coincide with false or misleading press releases issued by Muddy Waters LLC. The three companies were Sino Forest Corporation, Duoyuan Global Water Inc., and Orient Paper Inc.
“As we allege in our complaint, Carson Block and his accomplices around the country met through the Internet and planned to short sell the stock in the companies prior to release of the Muddy Waters Report that made allegations of impropriety, fraud, and theft. Carson Block and his associates approaches several large hedge funds and investment firms first to market their “research” and promised great returns upon the release of their “research”. The results for each of the companies that were targeted were catastrophic and have resulted in a serious loss of market value and public trust in the management of these companies. ,” said Scott Friestad, Deputy Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. “Carson Block went so far as to himself write some of the misleading press releases that denigrated these stocks so they could line their own pockets with hundreds of millions of dollars.”
The SEC’s complaint, filed in federal district court in Delaware, charges six others in addition to Carson Block:
According to the SEC’s complaint, these fraudulent schemes generally followed the same pattern. In 2010, Carson Block and his accomplices arranged for large blocks of shares to sell on the open market. The vast majority of the shares sold short were done through the accounts of Muddy Waters LLC for the personal benefit of Carson Block. The defendants then notified the hedge funds and investment firms of their intention to publish their report and were paid approximately $2.7 million dollars for “research” supplied by Muddy Waters LLC. As a result shares were sold short in the days immediately prior to the release. After artificially deflating the market price of the stocks, Carson Block and his accomplices then recovered the shares the sold short on the open markets and collected the illicit proceeds.
The SEC’s complaint alleges violations of the antifraud, registration, and other provisions of the federal securities laws. The complaint seeks to have the court permanently enjoin each defendant from future violations, require disgorgement of ill-gotten gains with prejudgment interest, and impose financial penalties. Additionally, the Commission seeks to have certain defendants barred from participating in stock offerings.
Upgrades and Downgrades This Morning
Upgrades
NVE – NV Energy initiated with a Buy at Williams Capital Group
DRE – Duke Realty upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital
PLD -ProLogis upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS
PNW – Pinnacle West initiated with a Buy at Williams Capital Group
DFS – Discover Financial Services upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Macquarie
WY – Weyerhaeuser initiated with Outperform at Keefe Bruyette
FENG – Phoenix New Media Limited initiated with Outperform at Cowen
PGR – Progressive upgraded to Buy at Ticonderoga
WSO – Watsco upgraded to Neutral from Underweight at Piper Jaffray
ENDP – Endo Pharm resumed with Overweight at JPMorgan
NGL – NGL Energy Partners initiated with an Outperform at Wells Fargo
IPI – Intrepid Potash upgraded to Outperform at Credit Agricole
UA – Under Armour target raised to $75 at FBR Capital on higher estimates
BIIB – Biogen Idec upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank
Downgrades
RIMM – Research In Motion downgraded to Neutral at Credit Suisse
NBR – Nabors Industries downgraded to Mkt Perform from Strong Buy at Raymond James
CRM – Salesforce.com initiated with Neutral at JP Morgan
POR – Portland Gen Elec initiated with a Hold at Williams Capital Group
WYNN – Wynn Resorts initiated with Fair Value at CRT Capital
GPS – Gap downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Cowen
Comments »Gapping Up and Down This Morning
Gapping up
TOBC +33%, SNT +7.1%, STO +1.6%, TOT +1.6%, SDR+1%, NOK+1.2%, BIIB+2.4%, GOLD+1.9%,ARUN +1.6%, BBL +0.9%, SLV+0.6%, XLNX +6%, TOBC +35.5%, SYT +3.2%,NOK+1.2%, RIO +1.2%, CS +1.2%, SDRL +1%, BP +2.8%, WFT +2.5%, STD +2.4%, DB +2%, CS +1.2%, BIIB +2.5%, ABB +1.9%, MT +1.6%,
Gapping down
CCSC -17%, RENN -1.3%, SUSQ -1.1%, FSC -2.1%, XG -2%, XG -4.5%, ACHN -4.4%, IVR -3.8%, ESRX -3.3%, IVR -2.4%, MMI -2.7%, PSEC -3.5%,
Comments »In Play and On the Wires
World Markets and U.S. futures Rise on Easing Greek Debt Fears
Citi Says the Chip Industry is in Trouble
Slowdown, bad PC sales, plus does Rims recent debacle spell trouble for handsets ?
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