LIBOR, EURIBOR, 10 year yields for Italy, Spain, France, and Germany
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Monthly Archives: April 2012
T. Boone Pickens: ‘I’ve Lost My Ass’ in Wind Power
George Zimmerman Officially Charged with Murder
George Zimmerman has officially been charged with 2nd Degree murder after shooting and killing 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in a Florida suburb back in February.
Florida special prosecutor Angela Corey made the announcement moments ago at a press conference, claiming the charge was filed today.
Zimmerman — a community watchman — shot and killed Trayvon on Feb. 26th in Sanford, Florida, but no arrests were made at the time. Zimmerman has consistently maintained he shot Trayvon in self-defense.
A firestorm of media attention has surrounded the case — with many celebs like Spike Lee, Roseanne Barr and LeBron James claiming the shooting was racially motivated.
Zimmerman has already turned himself in to authorities. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison.
REPORT: George Zimmerman To Be Charged In Shooting Of Trayvon Martin
Has gasoline peaked?
Read here:
Comments »U.S. gasoline pump prices may have peaked for the year as demand slides, job growth slows and crude prices moderate.
Regular gasoline, averaged nationwide, has fallen five straight days to $3.915 a gallon, the longest streak since December, after surging 20 percent to $3.936 on April 4, according to data from AAA, the nation’s biggest motoring club. Americans have purchased 5.3 percent less gasoline so far this year than in 2011, data from credit-card receipts analyzed by MasterCard Inc. showed yesterday.
Deliveries (DOEDMGAS) to wholesalers last week were 5.4 percent below a year earlier, the Energy Department reported today. The department forecast consumption to decline to 8.65 million barrels a day this year, the lowest level in 11 years. The U.S. added the fewest jobs in five months in March, the Labor Department said April 6, limiting prospects for higher demand.
“Gasoline was the best-performing asset in the first quarter, but the sentiment is turning,” said Amrita Sen, a London-based analyst at Barclays Capital. “For the time being, our view is that it has probably peaked.”
Prices reached the highest level of 2011 at $3.985 on May 4, weeks before the U.S. Memorial Day holiday kicked off the traditional start of the summer driving season. The record retail price was $4.114 on July 15, 2008.
Gasoline in the U.S. will peak in May at $4.01 a gallon, the Energy Department said yesterday in its monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook.
The Beautiful Truth: Epigenetics Shows How Thoughts and Environment Play a Large Role in the Outcome of Your Health
Johnson & Johnson, $JNJ, Ordered to Pay $1.1 Billion in for Breaking Consumer Protection Laws
“An Arkansas judge ordered Johnson & Johnson JNJ -0.13% to pay $1.1 billion after a jury found that the company’s past marketing of the antipsychotic Risperdal violated the state’s consumer-protection laws.
The Arkansas penalty is the largest to date in a series of state legal cases against J&J related to its marketing of Risperdal, which was once J&J’s top-selling drug before generic copycats hit the market.
The New Brunswick, N.J., company said Wednesday that it is disappointed with the judge’s penalty, and will appeal if its motion for a new trial is denied. A jury decided Tuesday that J&J violated consumer-protection laws.
J&J previously was ordered to pay $327 million in a South Carolina case and $258 million in Louisiana; the company is appealing both those cases. In January, J&J agreed to settle a Texas case for $158 million.
Several of the state cases have sought reimbursement of Medicaid payments for Risperdal prescriptions written for unapproved uses, compensation for treating their citizens for alleged adverse reactions to Risperdal, and other damages….”
Comments »Natty Gas Futures See a $1 Handle; First Time Since 2002
Today’s Industry Highlights
Today’s Industry Highlights via YAHOO
| Top Performing Industries | % Change |
| Specialty Eateries | +4.02% |
| Regional – Mid-Atlantic Banks | +3.36% |
| Foreign Money Center Banks | +2.68% |
| Semiconductor – Specialized | +2.53% |
| Resorts & Casinos | +2.51% |
| View Leaders & Laggards… | |
| Worst Performing Industries | % Change |
| Music & Video Stores | -1.82% |
| Communication Equipment | -1.30% |
| Copper | -0.95% |
| Chemicals – Major Diversified | -0.91% |
| Foreign Utilities | -0.62% |
| View Leaders & Laggards… |
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Verizon, $VZ, Would Like to Charge $30 Every Time You Upgrade Your Phone
“Verizon Wireless, the country’s largest cellphone company, says it will start charging $30 every time a subscriber wants to upgrade to a new phone.
Other phone companies have introduced similar fees. Competitor AT&T Inc. raised its fee from $18 to $36 this year.
Verizon says it will start charging the fee on April 22, and it will help fund customer support and online educational tools.
Verizon is introducing the fee as cellphone companies are seeing their profits cut by the cost of subsidizing smartphones, especially iPhones. Smartphones generally cost hundreds of dollars more than they sell for in stores. Wireless carriers count on making the money back through service fees over time, but those fees aren’t growing as fast as smartphone sales.”
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Beige Book Shows Promising Signs
Retail strong in Boston, NYC, and San Fran
Real estate picking up
Moderate to modest growth across the board with 5 districts reporting accelerated growth in manufcturing relating to autos and technology.
Increased competition in loan demand.
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Revenues and Profits Appear to Have Climaxed (Chart Porn)
One of the most important debates in the markets and the economy is the story of historically high corporate profit margins and where it’s headed next.
Jeff Kleintop, Chief Market Strategist of LPL Financial, lists profit margins as one of the three most important things to watch for during this earnings season (breadth of earnings growth and earnings guidance are the other two).
Here’s his discussion of profit margins from his latest Weekly Market Commentary:
The analyst consensus forecast of 3% earnings growth in the first quarter is the slowest growth rate since the recovery in earnings began in 2009. The weakness stems from the end of profit margin expansion. Analysts expect earnings to track revenue growth of about 4%.
Over much of the past few years, companies were able to post earnings growth rates that were several times the pace of revenue growth as profit margins expanded, granting more profit per dollar of sales. However, the ability to post faster earnings growth than revenue growth has faded; rising costs have contributed to slower earnings gains relative to revenue. In fact, nearly a quarter of S&P 500 companies are expected to report a year-over- year drop in earnings per share despite year-over-year revenue gains in the first quarter. Three sectors are expected to post earnings declines despite revenue growth. The most dramatic of these is the Materials sector, where 5% revenue growth is expected to accompany a -15% decline in earnings.
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Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-end-profit-margin-expansion-2012-4#ixzz1rkw6v3GQ
Comments »How Not to Text While Walking
[youtube://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPJVe39_kGQ 450 300]
Comments »NBC News Australia: Preparing for Alien Invasion
[youtube://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7g8VNyDZPTM 450 300]
Comments »$GM Suffers an Explosion at a Battery Plant
“Warren— One person was transported to a hospital and four others were being evaluated Wednesday after a lithium battery exploded at a battery research lab at the General Motors Technical Center.
“We are aware of an incident this morning about 8:45 a.m. in one of the laboratories at the Alternative Energy Center at the General Motors Technical Center in Warren, Mich.,” GM said in a release. “Fire and emergency authorities were called to the scene. The building was evacuated. All employees have been accounted for. We are aware of five employees being evaluated on scene by medical personal and only one employee is being further treated.
The incident is still under investigation by GM and the Warren authorities. Any information or discussion of the nature of the work in the lab or cause of the incident is entirely speculative and cannot be confirmed at this time.”
According to Warren Fire Chief Dave Fredericks, firefighters searched for other fires that might have been caused by the explosion. A HAZMAT team also was called to the scene.
“We received a call at about 9 a.m. that a battery had exploded at the tech center,” said Fredericks, regarding preliminary reports. “We responded and found two victims and a small fire. At this point, I don’t know the extent of the injuries, but the more serious of the two was taken to St. John Hospital on Moross Road.”
According to Fredericks, firefighters are searching for any other fires that might have been caused by the explosion and a HAZMAT team is at the scene.
A GM spokesman said the explosion took place in a battery research lab…”
Comments »U.S. Oil Inventories Continue to Rise
“The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) released its weekly petroleum status report this morning. US commercial crude inventories rose by 2.8 million barrels last week, bringing the total US commercial crude inventory to 365.2 million barrels, around the upper limit of the five-year range for this time of the year.
A Platts survey provided a consensus estimate for a weekly inventory gain of 1.8 million barrels while the American Petroleum Institute had projected an inventory gain of 6.85 million barrels. Today’s increase is substantially less than the 9 million barrels gained last week.
Total gasoline inventories fell by 4.3 million barrels last week and remain in the upper limit of the five-year average range. Over the last four weeks, gasoline supplied has declined by -4% compared to the same period last year. Total motor gasoline supplied averaged 8.6 million barrels/day for the four weeks.
For the past week, crude imports averaged 8.5 million barrels/day, a drop of 1.3 million barrels/day from the previous week. Refineries were running at 83.8% of capacity, with daily input of nearly 14.4 million barrels/day, down by 395,000 barrels/day from the previous week….”
Comments »Today’s Heat Map and A/D Lines
Today’s 52 Week Highs and Lows
NYSE
New Highs 10 COMPANY SYMBOL HIGH VOLUME ------- ------ ---- ------ AEGON 6.375% Perp Cp Secs AEH 24.62 9,750 BlackRock Build Am Bd Tr BBN 22.71 23,680 BlkRk MuniYld Inv MYF 16.20 19,699 BlackRockStrategicBond BHD 14.50 5,353 Cementos Pacasmayo ADS CPAC 12.36 161 Delphi Fincl DFG 45.44 37,056 EPAM Systems EPAM 22.86 25,279 Hersha Hosp Tr 8% A HTpA 25.96 248 PPLUS 6.7% TRUCs LMG-4 PYL 24.21 3,600 Terra Nitrogen TNH 276.79 10,790 New Lows 8 COMPANY SYMBOL LOW VOLUME ------- ------ ---- ------ Accretive Health AH 18.38 45,031 Arch Cap Gp 6.75% Pfd C ARHpC 25.14 10,118 Newfield Exploration NFX 33.05 132,360 Nokia NOK 4.31 58,673,672 No Amer Engy Ptnrs NOA 4.25 8,450 Pulse Electronics PULS 2.14 1,237 Transalta Corp TAC 17.56 15,069 YPF SA YPF 21.43 200,961
NASDAQ
New Highs 12 COMPANY SYMBOL HIGH VOLUME ------- ------ ---- ------ Adept Technology ADEP 6.49 9,445 Anika Therapeutics ANIK 14.80 37,011 Citizens Republic Bancorp CRBC 16.00 16,005 Crimson Exploration CXPO 4.34 45,992 Infinity Pharmaceuticals INFI 13.12 10,218 iSh Barclays GNMA Bd Fd GNMA 50.61 222 Mattress Firm Holding MFRM 44.21 97,218 NewLead Hldg Ltd NEWL 5.00 399,547 North Valley Bancorp NOVB 13.05 200 OakRidgFnlSvc BKOR 5.39 200 Titan Machinery Inc TITN 32.05 737,964 VeriSign VRSN 39.43 255,382 New Lows 10 COMPANY SYMBOL LOW VOLUME ------- ------ ---- ------ Anthera Pharmaceuticals ANTH 2.05 7,653 BSD Medical BSDM 1.91 1,000 Chelsea Therapeutics Intl CHTP 1.91 92,262 CombiMatrix CBMX 0.76 16,468 Double Eagle Petroleum DBLE 5.42 6,900 OPNET Techs OPNT 23.13 216,282 Peregrine Pharma PPHM 0.45 75,162 Polycom PLCM 13.71 447,986 RF Micro Devices RFMD 4.30 323,960 WisdomTree Emg Mkts Corp EMCB 74.55 1,620Comments »
Today’s Most Active Options Trade
-CALLS- OPTION EXP.DATE STRIKE PRC. VOLUME LAST S/PRC. NET CHANGE BAC 4/13/12 9.0000 8068 0.0700 up 0.0000 SVU 4/21/12 6.0000 3001 0.4500 up 0.1500 MSFT 4/21/12 32.0000 2077 0.0900 dn 0.0300 AA 4/13/12 10.0000 2075 0.1000 up 0.0500 AAPL 4/13/12 635.0000 2065 6.3500 up 1.5000 VALE 5/19/12 23.0000 1915 0.6500 up 0.1500 MSFT 4/21/12 31.0000 1771 0.3100 dn 0.0300 AAPL 4/21/12 650.0000 1581 7.2000 up 1.2900 BAC 4/21/12 9.0000 1564 0.2200 up 0.0400 AAPL 4/13/12 640.0000 1471 4.3000 up 1.0000 -PUTS- OPTION EXP.DATE STRIKE PRC. VOLUME LAST S/PRC. NET CHANGE SPR 10/20/12 20.0000 3050 0.8500 up 0.0500 AAPL 4/13/12 625.0000 1449 3.7500 dn 2.3500 BAC 4/13/12 8.0000 1250 0.0100 dn 0.0400 AA 5/19/12 9.0000 1014 0.1300 dn 0.2200 AAPL 4/13/12 630.0000 929 5.5000 dn 3.1500 AAPL 4/13/12 635.0000 924 8.0000 dn 3.3500 KORS 5/19/12 40.0000 922 1.2500 up 0.0000 AAPL 4/13/12 620.0000 880 2.5000 dn 1.7900 AEO 4/21/12 17.0000 819 0.6500 dn 0.2000 AAPL 4/21/12 630.0000 784 12.4000 dn 2.6500 -VOLUME- CALLS PUTS TOTAL 293965 323331 617296
-CALLS- OPTION EXP.DATE STRIKE PRC. VOLUME LAST S/PRC. NET CHANGE CVS 11/17/12 42.0000 650 3.9700 up 0.1200 CVS 8/18/12 42.0000 650 3.4200 up 0.2200 BAC 4/13/12 9.0000 413 0.0700 up 0.0000 GE 5/19/12 17.0000 276 2.1600 up 0.2600 FCX 4/13/12 38.0000 208 0.0700 dn 0.0200 FCX 4/13/12 39.0000 200 0.0200 up 0.0100 AAPL 4/13/12 660.0000 185 0.5500 dn 0.2000 AAPL 5/19/12 615.0000 170 44.1400 up 2.9900 BAC 5/19/12 8.0000 145 1.0700 up 0.2000 AAPL 4/13/12 640.0000 131 4.6500 up 1.1500 -PUTS- OPTION EXP.DATE STRIKE PRC. VOLUME LAST S/PRC. NET CHANGE FCX 4/13/12 35.0000 231 0.1400 dn 0.0800 FCX 4/13/12 34.0000 200 0.0800 dn 0.0100 NOK 4/21/12 4.0000 110 0.1200 up 0.0900 INTC 10/20/12 23.0000 100 0.6500 up 0.0800 PG 4/21/12 70.0000 100 3.2000 dn 0.1000 GLD 5/19/12 155.0000 77 1.4200 up 0.0100 TBT 4/21/12 20.0000 75 1.0500 dn 0.2800 AAPL 4/13/12 630.0000 67 5.5500 dn 2.8500 PHM 7/21/12 7.0000 61 0.5800 dn 0.1000 GME 5/19/12 20.0000 60 0.6100 up 0.0600 -VOLUME- CALLS PUTS TOTAL 15765 19898 35663Comments »
