Monthly Archives: November 2011
Berkshire to Expand Media Holdings by Scooping up Omaha World Herald
Disclosures and Data Show Hedge Funds Dump Stocks to Levels Not Seen Since 2008
Beige Book Shows Slow to Moderate Growth in the Economy
The New Meredith Whitney, Eagan Jones, Downgrades France
The Apple Television is Coming
Check Out Dennis Gartman’s Risk $ONN & Risk $OFF ETNs
FLASH: Louise Cooper States Overnight Lending Reached 300 Billion Euros Last Night From the ECB
As told by the commentator that this spells a significant liquidity crunch. She states banks and traders have to buy this rally, but it may only last a few days as equity markets do not understand the trouble felt within the bond markets.
Louise Cooper from BGC
Will try to pull the interview later for your viewing pleasure…
Comments »Was Central Bank Action Leaked in Monday’s Trade ?
Fed Cancels First POMO Auction Ever
Rumors of a Near Term European Bank Failure Caused Central Bank Action
El-Erian Comments on Today’s Central Bank Action
“Mohamed El-Erian, chief executive and co-chief investment officer at PIMCO, submits this guest post to FT Alphaville in reaction to this morning’s coordinated announcement.
Risk markets love liquidity injections, real and perceived. As such, they will welcome today’s announcement by six major central banks to reduce the price of emergency financing and broadening its scope. They will also like the possibility that this dramatic coordinated move provides a stronger context for further actions at the level of individual institutions.
In justifying the move, the central banks point to the need to counter pressure on “the supply of credit to households and businesses and so help foster economic activity.” This is an objective that will sell well to the public and politicians. But it is not one that will be effectively met by the announced measures. Indeed, the importance of the announcement is elsewhere, involving two related issues.
First, these monetary institutions feel that, again, they have to move because other entities have continued to be too slow and too ineffective; and second, they feel that they cannot, and should not ignore an actual or anticipated need to relieve acute pressures within the banking system.
These two reasons were made even more pressing by last week’s dislocations in the functioning of European financial markets – most notably, the inversion of the Italian yield curve, pressure on government bond markets in core Europe, the growing fragility of the banking system, a drop in market liquidity, and growing hesitation by market participants to warehouse any risk.
The immediate impact on markets unambiguously favors risk assets across the world. The longer-term effect depends on the scale and scope of the follow through from others. This is particularly important as we count down to yet another European Summit on December 9.
The hope is that central banks are acting because, looking forward, they feel confident that other policymakers will finally catch up with a big and spreading debt crisis that has serious implications for growth, jobs and inequality. The fear is that they are acting because they feel that they must again pre-empt yet another set of potential disappointments.”
Comments »Jim Cramer: Banks Work for a Day and Then They Don’t (video)
Jim Cramer says buy gold, oil, and copper. Defcon 2 avoided, but central bank action will only work for a day.
Comments »Crescenzi: Central Bank Action is Back Door Easing
“The coordinated actions by the Federal Reserve and other central banks is aimed at the funding strains faced by European banks in what was becoming a modern day run on the banks. The run has differed from the run that George Bailey watched as he drove up to the Bailey Building and Loan in It’s a Wonderful Life, but it has been a run nonetheless. The world in fact has been playing a game of hot potato with European bank debt as well as European sovereign debt, and the only player with oven mitts to hold the hot potato is the world’s central banks.
Illustrating the run on European banks is the sharp reduction in exposures by U.S. institutional prime money funds to European banks. For years the prime money funds invested about 50% of their investable money in European banks. This lasted until June. Since then, data from Fitch indicate the tally has fallen to 35%.
Further evidence of strain has been in the inter-bank market, in particularLIBOR . Whereas in June the 3-month LIBOR hovered close to the 0.25% rate the Fed pays on excess bank reserves, it was today at 0.53%, indicating banks were having increased difficulty obtaining dollar funding. Moreover, forward rates on LIBOR were priced for 3-month LIBOR to eventually reach about 85 basis points and the trend was accelerating.”
Comments »Today’s Money Flows
ISSUE GAINERS SYMBOL EXCH LAST PRICE MONEY FLOW RATIO (in millions) ProShares Ultra S&P500 SSO ARCA 45.15 +151.3 4.43 Select Sector SPDR-Energy XLE ARCA 70.67 +104.1 2.25 Citigroup C NYSE 26.86 +34.4 1.40 Google GOOG NASD 598.26 +33.0 1.14 iShrs MSCI Emerg Mkts EEM ARCA 39.85 +25.1 1.36 ML Oil Service HOLDRS Tr OIH ARCA 124.54 +21.9 1.50 IBM IBM NYSE 187.68 +21.9 1.24 Bristol-Myers BMY NYSE 32.34 +19.7 1.88 Wells Fargo WFC NYSE 25.21 +16.8 1.47 Coca-Cola KO NYSE 67.58 +16.3 1.61 Philip Morris Intl PM NYSE 75.74 +13.9 1.46 Johnson & Johnson JNJ NYSE 64.33 +13.5 1.39 Banco Itau Hldg ITUB NYSE 17.80 +12.1 1.76 Merck MRK NYSE 35.45 +11.1 1.78 Mastercard MA NYSE 369.68 +10.9 1.28 ConocoPhillips COP NYSE 70.89 +10.9 1.29 Intel INTC NASD 24.86 +10.5 1.18 SPDR Gold Tr GLD ARCA 170.14 +10.4 1.08 Cliffs Ntrl Res CLF NYSE 67.28 +10.4 1.47 Lehman 20+ Year Treas TBT ARCA 19.68 +10.3 2.06 ISSUE DECLINERS SYMBOL EXCH LAST PRICE MONEY FLOW RATIO (in millions) iShs S&P GSCI Cm-Idxed Tr GSG ARCA 33.95 -112.8 0.00 Apple AAPL NASD 380.80 -68.1 0.89 ExxonMobil XOM NYSE 79.89 -36.6 0.71 Nokia NOK NYSE 5.76 -29.1 0.09 Vanguard Total Bond Mkt BND ARCA 83.25 -26.0 0.37 SPDR S&P 500 SPY ARCA 124.42 -25.6 0.97 Baidu BIDU NASD 130.61 -25.0 0.78 Cisco Systems CSCO NASD 18.78 -24.5 0.64 Microsoft MSFT NASD 25.51 -22.9 0.68 Caterpillar CAT NYSE 96.38 -20.1 0.79 Bank Of America BAC NYSE 5.34 -17.1 0.87 Gilead Sciences GILD NASD 39.99 -15.8 0.47 Freeport McMoran FCX NYSE 39.05 -15.7 0.78 Chevron CVX NYSE 102.32 -15.5 0.84 National Retail Prperties NNN NYSE 25.77 -15.0 0.37 McDonald's MCD NYSE 95.47 -14.7 0.73 ProShs UltrShrt Rusl 2000 TWM ARCA 41.14 -14.5 0.59 AT&T T NYSE 28.83 -13.8 0.64 Pfizer PFE NYSE 19.95 -13.5 0.68 Chipotle Mexican Grill CMG NYSE 319.81 -13.3 0.66Comments »
FLASH: COPPER IS UP NEARLY 7%
Risk on.
Comments »Occupy Los Angeles, Philly get clean swept
Comments »LOS ANGELES (AP) — More than 1,400 police officers, some in riot gear, cleared the Occupy Los Angeles camp early Wednesday, driving protesters from a park around City Hall and arresting more than 200 who defied orders to leave. Similar raids in Philadelphia led to 52 arrests, but the scene in both cities was relatively peaceful.
Police in Los Angeles and Philadelphia moved in on Occupy Wall Street encampments under darkness in an effort to clear out some of the longest-lasting protest sites since crackdowns ended similar occupations across the country.
Beanbags fired from shotguns were used to subdue the final three protesters in a makeshift tree house outside Los Angeles City Hall, police Cmdr. Andrew Smith said, describing it as a minor use of force incident. No serious injuries were reported.
Police Chief Charlie Beck praised the officers and the protesters for their restraint and the peaceful way the eviction was carried out.
Today’s Heat Map and A/D Line
Today’s 52 Week Highs and Lows
NYSE
New Highs 75 COMPANY SYMBOL HIGH VOLUME ------- ------ ---- ------ AAG Hldg 7.25% Sr Db 2034 GFZ 25.93 1,226 Airgas Inc ARG 76.06 110,100 AllianceBrnstn NtlMun AFB 14.44 11,588 Altria Group Inc MO 28.55 1,917,218 Amer Tower AMT 59.49 364,757 Beam Inc BEAM 52.66 106,863 BlackRock CA Municipal Tr BFZ 14.37 6,198 BlkRk Muni NY Inter Dur MNE 14.00 7,400 BlkRk MuniHldgs CA Qlty MUC 14.57 18,515 BlkRk MuniHldgs MHD 16.50 9,480 BlkRk MuniHldgs Quality MUS 13.80 22,615 BlkRk MuniYld Qlty II MQT 13.19 17,405 BlackRock Utility & Infr BUI 21.02 39,045 Brown Forman A BF/A 77.01 293 Brown Forman B BF/B 79.25 18,808 Cambrex Corp CBM 6.88 62,340 Cedar Fair LP FUN 23.73 125,933 Chesapeake Granite Wash CHKR 19.95 159,441 6.375% CorTS IBM HZK 27.30 1,400 DWS Strategic Muni Inco KSM 13.28 3,128 Digital Realty Trust DLR 65.50 250,746 DigitalRealtyTrInc.7.0% DLRpE 25.40 2,540 Enterprise Pdts Partners EPD 46.11 183,561 Extra Space Storage EXR 23.80 103,130 FMC Tech FTI 52.70 579,435 FTI Consulting FCN 43.35 100,810 Fair Isaac FICO 36.00 32,503 FortuneBrandsHome&Sec FBHS 16.50 81,184 Global Cash Access GCA 4.43 76,995 WW Grainger GWW 183.54 75,291 Gulf Pwr 5.25% 2033 H GUL 27.20 1,400 Home Depot HD 39.79 2,931,962 Invesco MIO III OIC 7.79 2,171 Invesco Van Kampen Bd Fd VBF 20.95 5,750 Invesco Van Kampen Mun Tr VKQ 13.99 38,967 Kansas City Southern KSU 70.48 399,146 KIMCO Realty Pfd H KIMpH 26.99 4,480 Kinder Morgan Energy KMP 79.34 119,850 Kinder Morgan Mgmt KMR 71.42 25,806 Kodiak Oil & Gas KOG 9.08 1,789,349 LEH 6.25% CorTS Boeing JZL 26.29 1,900 MFS Hi Yld Muni CMU 4.63 9,899 MarkWest MWE 54.93 79,839 Mistras Group MG 23.68 19,143 Nalco Holding NLC 39.44 444,618 99 Cents Only Stores NDN 21.93 159,165 Nuveen CA Muni Mkt NCO 14.55 1,101 Nuveen Insured CA Muni 2 NCL 14.99 5,972 Nuveen Insured Premium NNF 15.26 2,690 Nuveen Invest Qual Muni NQM 15.08 23,259 Nuveen NY Div Fnd NAN 13.83 525 Nuveen NY Investment Qual NQN 15.10 9,833 Nuveen Performance Plus NPP 14.89 10,973 Nuveen Prem Inco Muni 2 NPM 14.54 23,229 Oneok Inc OKE 83.67 126,896 ONEOK Partners OKS 51.35 30,723 Oceaneering Intl OII 46.77 164,680 PNM Resources PNM 18.91 104,076 PS Bus Parks Pfd R PSBpR 26.00 687 Philip Morris Intl PM 76.40 1,208,740 Pinnacle West Capital PNW 47.45 79,884 Progress Energy PGN 53.87 163,321 Reynolds American RAI 41.67 479,238 Scana Corp SCG 43.30 103,016 Sel Ins Grp 7.5% Nts 2066 SGZ 26.15 1,015 SolarWinds SWI 32.58 228,393 SpectraEnergy SE 29.81 611,925 TJX Cos TJX 61.99 448,741 Targa Resources Partners NGLS 37.75 41,733 Tortoise No Amer Engy TYN 27.75 4,796 Tyson Foods TSN 20.27 753,231 Universal American UAM 13.19 25,749 Universal Corp UVV 47.49 28,390 WellCare Health Plans WCG 58.98 73,634 Western Gas Partners LP WES 37.99 26,597 New Lows 3 COMPANY SYMBOL LOW VOLUME ------- ------ ---- ------ Feihe International ADY 3.86 400 Grubb & Ellis GBE 0.27 28,774 KKRFinlHldgsLLC8.375% KFH 24.52 7,900
NASDAQ
New Highs 39 COMPANY SYMBOL HIGH VOLUME ------- ------ ---- ------ Ansys ANSS 60.88 34,827 Abiomed ABMD 20.22 120,635 Akorn AKRX 10.85 463,390 Altisource Ptfl Sol SA ASPS 47.77 40,300 Arch Capital Grp ACGL 37.56 174,902 Astronics ATRO 35.44 6,576 Atrion ATRI 236.51 337 Bank of The Ozarks OZRK 28.01 27,599 Calavo Growers CVGW 26.20 9,764 Citizens Republic Bancorp CRBC 10.70 35,562 DXP Enterprises DXPE 30.25 19,007 Fastenal Co FAST 41.82 250,916 Fifth St Finance FSC 9.73 180,617 First Connecticut Bncp FBNK 12.75 17,311 Fundtech FNDT 23.29 50,852 Glbl Educ & Tech Grp ADS GEDU 10.80 128,828 Hain Celestial Group HAIN 38.47 78,089 Halozyme Therapeutics HALO 9.36 173,400 Hi Tech Pharmacal Co HITK 42.93 44,777 Hibbett Sports HIBB 46.27 54,727 Inhibitex INHX 14.25 780,212 Monro Muffler Brake MNRO 41.45 38,318 Multimedia Games Holding MGAM 7.50 46,917 Natural Alternatives Intl NAII 8.96 2,000 OSI Systems OSIS 47.47 11,422 Panera Bread Co PNRA 143.00 101,182 Papa John's Intl PZZA 38.92 59,714 Penn Millers Hldg Cp PMIC 20.64 1,700 Pharmacyclics PCYC 15.14 191,057 Retail Opp Investment ROIC 11.80 24,901 Ross Stores ROST 91.43 238,926 SPS Commerce SPSC 24.59 40,736 Sanderson Farms SAFM 52.73 22,478 Spectrum Pharmaceuticals SPPI 13.85 134,000 Synageva BioPharma GEVA 17.45 1,674 Verisk Analytics Inc VRSK 38.68 121,529 Video Display VIDE 4.70 5,226 ViroPharma VPHM 23.50 113,222 Winmark WINA 54.68 4,418 New Lows 10 COMPANY SYMBOL LOW VOLUME ------- ------ ---- ------ Firstservice FSRV 24.04 16,300 Intest INTT 2.13 2,050 Lincoln Educational Svcs LINC 6.55 31,633 Netflix NFLX 64.55 2,568,641 OmniVision Techs OVTI 10.15 3,347,468 Pinnacle Airlines PNCL 2.00 14,500 Premier Fincl Bancorp PFBI 3.75 1,800 Princeton Review REVU 0.10 55,548 Rada Elec Ind RADA 1.55 4,100 Shutterfly SFLY 28.79 406,907Comments »
Most Active Put/Call Option Trades
-CALLS- OPTION EXP.DATE STRIKE PRC. VOLUME LAST S/PRC. NET CHANGE BAC 12/17/11 6.0000 1056 0.1000 up 0.0100 BAC 1/21/12 7.5000 1012 0.0700 up 0.0100 TZA 12/17/11 36.0000 564 1.1800 dn 1.5900 TZA 12/2/11 30.0000 297 1.1000 dn 4.1000 BIDU 12/2/11 130.0000 211 2.6000 up 2.0700 CAT 1/21/12 120.0000 200 0.0800 dn 0.0200 FCX 2/18/12 35.0000 182 5.9500 up 1.5500 AMZN 12/2/11 200.0000 179 0.7300 up 0.2200 IBM 1/21/12 140.0000 178 47.1300 up 5.1800 IBM 1/21/12 160.0000 178 28.0300 up 4.8800 -PUTS- OPTION EXP.DATE STRIKE PRC. VOLUME LAST S/PRC. NET CHANGE MO 12/17/11 27.0000 220 0.1000 dn 0.0900 AAPL 12/2/11 375.0000 187 1.4800 dn 3.1200 AAPL 12/2/11 380.0000 172 3.2500 dn 5.1000 JDSU 12/17/11 12.0000 127 1.4500 dn 0.4900 LNKD 12/17/11 60.0000 123 3.8000 dn 0.9000 LNKD 12/17/11 55.0000 122 1.8500 dn 0.8500 INTC 12/17/11 22.0000 112 0.0500 dn 0.1100 BAC 12/17/11 6.0000 111 0.8000 dn 0.2000 SQNM 1/21/12 5.0000 103 0.8300 dn 0.2100 JPM 1/21/12 31.0000 100 2.7000 dn 1.0000 -VOLUME- CALLS PUTS TOTAL 32276 25383 57659
-CALLS- OPTION EXP.DATE STRIKE PRC. VOLUME LAST S/PRC. NET CHANGE WFC 12/17/11 27.0000 2079 0.1600 up 0.0700 SIRI 1/21/12 1.5000 1844 0.3300 up 0.0500 BAC 1/21/12 6.0000 1505 0.3000 up 0.0300 DAL 1/21/12 9.0000 1329 0.1700 dn 0.0100 BAC 12/17/11 7.0000 1319 0.0300 dn 0.0100 AA 12/17/11 10.0000 1285 0.2900 up 0.1100 GM 1/21/12 25.0000 1275 0.2800 up 0.0700 BAC 12/17/11 5.0000 1081 0.4700 up 0.0800 DUK 1/21/12 20.0000 1080 0.7500 up 0.1500 LVS 12/17/11 45.0000 1051 1.9700 up 0.7600 -PUTS- OPTION EXP.DATE STRIKE PRC. VOLUME LAST S/PRC. NET CHANGE GLD 2/18/12 156.0000 4500 2.8900 dn 0.7600 BAC 12/17/11 5.0000 3493 0.2400 dn 0.0800 BAC 12/2/11 5.0000 2590 0.0600 dn 0.0600 MMR 2/18/12 8.0000 2500 0.3100 dn 0.1400 MMR 2/18/12 12.0000 2500 1.4100 dn 0.2300 MS 12/17/11 11.0000 1058 0.1600 dn 0.0600 C1 1/21/12 4.0000 1005 1.3500 dn 0.1400 CCJ 3/17/12 18.0000 1000 1.8000 dn 0.4000 C1 1/21/12 2.5000 1000 0.2400 up 0.0000 BAC 1/21/12 5.0000 946 0.4900 dn 0.0900 -VOLUME- CALLS PUTS TOTAL 371011 494474 865485Comments »