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Monthly Archives: December 2012

The Shorts are Running to the Hills

Lots of short covering going on today…$T, ISRG, $INTC, $PXD, $CERN, $GILD, $ORLY, $DIS,

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[youtube://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ufy9UXOeMw 450 300]

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Gapping Up and Down This Morning

NYSE 

GAINERS

Symb Last Change Chg %
RKUS.N 18.96 +1.36 +7.73
ANFI.N 8.06 +0.36 +4.68
LOCK.N 7.84 +0.19 +2.48
TRQ.N 7.40 +0.17 +2.35
NHF.N 6.47 +0.14 +2.21

LOSERS

Symb Last Change Chg %
CORR.N 7.57 -0.68 -8.24
ABBV_w.N 35.00 -2.00 -5.41
FLTX.N 19.81 -0.94 -4.53
WWAV.N 15.54 -0.29 -1.83
TRLA.N 17.63 -0.23 -1.29

 

NASDAQ 

GAINERS

Symb Last Change Chg %
MITL.OQ 3.31 +0.75 +29.30
TLAB.OQ 3.56 +0.61 +20.68
FIVE.OQ 37.15 +5.76 +18.35
FUNC.OQ 7.87 +1.13 +16.77
DRWI.OQ 2.43 +0.32 +15.17

LOSERS

Symb Last Change Chg %
NTLS.OQ 12.90 -3.27 -20.22
SUPN.OQ 7.99 -1.84 -18.72
USMD.OQ 9.00 -1.93 -17.66
VRSN.OQ 34.13 -5.21 -13.24
MDRX.OQ 11.12 -1.30 -10.47

 

AMEX 

GAINERS

Symb Last Change Chg %
SAND.A 12.15 +0.37 +3.14
SVLC.A 2.62 +0.03 +1.20
WVT.A 11.50 +0.13 +1.14
CTF.A 24.85 +0.10 +0.40

LOSERS

Symb Last Change Chg %
FU.A 3.64 -0.15 -3.96
BXE.A 3.82 -0.08 -2.05
EOX.A 4.92 -0.03 -0.61

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WTF is Up With The VIX ?

A study by $JPM suggests that other indicators would imply a higher VIX, but the index continues to give investors a false sense of calm….

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Small Business Confidence Collapses in the Latest NFIB Survey

 

“The NFIB is out with its latest survey of small business optimism, and the numbers are very bad. In fact, the firm’s chief economy specifically said “Something bad happened in November” and that it wasn’t just hurricane Sandy.

Here’s the number.

The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index dropped 5.6 points in November, bottoming out at 87.5. The two major events in November were the national elections and Hurricane Sandy, which devastated parts of the East Coast. To disentangle these, the results for the states impacted by Sandy were excluded from the computation for comparison. When separating the hurricane-impacted states from the remainder, the data makes clear that the election was the primary cause of the decline in owner optimism.

“Something bad happened in November….”

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Diageo Ends Talks Over Tequila Brand Cuervo

“LONDON (Reuters) – Diageo , the world’s biggest spirits maker, has pulled out of talks to buy a stake in top-selling tequila brand Jose Cuervo in a surprise move that could slow its race into fast-growing emerging markets.

The collapse of discussions with Cuervo, which has a distribution deal with Diageo due to end in June 2013, will leave Diageo without a major tequila brand and Cuervo without a leading distributor.

It could fuel speculation Diageo will seek a deal with U.S. group Beam , home of the world’s No.2 tequila brand Sauza, while an industry source said French rival Pernod Ricard might now link up with Cuervo.

Faced with sluggish growth in recession-hit European economies, Diageo has been looking to tap burgeoning middle classes in Africa, Asia and Latin America, where it aims to make around half of its turnover by 2015….”

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$DG Posts Higher Than Expected Profits, Company Gives Cautious Outlook

“(Reuters) – Dollar General Corp on Tuesday posted a bigger-than-expected increase in profit and said it remained cautious about the rest of the year despite an encouraging start to the holiday season.

The discount chain said customer confidence and spending was still under pressure and it faced challenges from competing chains.

While Dollar General’s latest quarter only ran through November 2, the chain said it was encouraged by results from the Thanksgiving weekend that came later in the month and the start of the holiday season.

The discount chain raised the lower end of its 2012 adjusted earnings forecast and slightly trimmed its sales view.

Profit rose to $207.7 million, or 62 cents per share, in the fiscal third quarter, from $171.2 million, or 50 cents, a year earlier.

Earnings rose to 63 cents per share, after adjusting for items such as expenses from a secondary offering and debt amendment fees, topping the analysts’ average target of 60 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Shares of Dollar General rose 33 cents to $46.90 in premarket trading.”

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$GS: Rally in Commodities Will Not Be Corny

 

“Three consecutive years of smaller U.S. corn harvests are driving inventories of the world’s most- consumed grain to a 39-year low and spurring Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to predict that prices will rise near record highs.

Global stockpiles probably will drop 11 percent to 117.64 million metric tons by Oct. 1, according to the average of 16 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. That would be 13.8 percent of what the U.S. Department of Agriculture expects to be used for food, ethanol and livestock feed, the lowest ratio of inventories since 1974. The USDA is scheduled to update its forecasts at 8:30 a.m. in Washington.”

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Fed Assets Expected to Top $4 Trillion

“The Federal Reserve will amplify record accommodation tomorrow by announcing $45 billion in monthly Treasury buying that will push its balance sheet almost to $4 trillion, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists.

Forty-eight of 49 economists predict the Federal Open Market Committee will purchase Treasuries to bolster an existing program to buy $40 billion in mortgage bonds each month. The panel pledged in October to continue that plan until the labor market improves “substantially.”

“It’s going to be massive and open-ended in size,” said Joseph LaVorgna, chief U.S. economist at Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. in New York and a former New York Fed economist.

Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and his FOMC colleagues will press on with purchases at least through the first quarter of 2014, according to the median estimate in the Dec. 7-10 survey. They are expanding the balance sheet beyond $2.86 trillion in a bid to spur growth and lower an unemployment rate of 7.7 percent.

“They view this stimulus as what’s needed to sustain the economy” and reinforce improvements in industries such as autos and housing, said John Silvia, chief economist at Wells Fargo & Co., the biggest U.S. home lender.

The FOMC gathers today for a two-day meeting in Washingtonand plans to release a statement on policy tomorrow at around 12:30 p.m. That will be followed by forecasts for growth, unemployment and inflation. Bernanke is scheduled to hold a press conference at 2:15 p.m., after release of the forecasts.”

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Black Gold Rebounds From a One Month Low

 

“Oil rebounded from the lowest close in almost a month in New York as German investor confidence jumped in December on speculation Europe’s largest economy will gather momentum next year.

Futures rose as much as 0.6 percent after falling for a fifth day yesterday, the longest losing streak since October. The ZEW Center for European Economic Research said its index of investor and analyst expectations climbed to 6.9 from minus 15.7 in November. U.S. crude inventories declined 2.5 million barrels last week, according to a Bloomberg News survey. Industrial output in China rose faster than economists estimated, official data showed Dec. 9.

“Oil demand in China is in better shape than it seemed before,” Carsten Fritsch, an analyst at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt, said by phone. “U.S. crude inventories are expected to drop and increased German investor confidence could extend the upward move.”

West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery gained as much as 51 cents to $86.07 a barrel and was at $86.01 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange as of 12:12 p.m. London time. The contract slid 37 cents to $85.56 yesterday, the lowest close since Nov. 15. Prices have fallen 13 percent this year and are headed for the first annual decrease since 2008.

Brent for January settlement on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange was at $108.11 a barrel, up 78 cents. The European benchmark crude was little changed at a premium of $22.10 to WTI, near the widest in a week.”

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Berlusconi Calls Spread a ‘Scam,’ Says Monti Beholden to Germany

“Former premier Silvio Berlusconi said the Italy’s bond yield difference with Germany is a “scam” and Prime Minister Mario Monti’s policies have made the economy worse than when he was in power.

“Monti’s government has followed the Germany-centric policy that Europe has tried to impose on other states and it has produced a crisis that is much worse than when we were in power,” the 76-year- old billionaire said in an interview today on Canale 5 television, controlled by hisMediaset SpA (MS) broadcast company.

Berlusconi said the excess focus on the difference between Italian bonds and comparable German Bunds was used to bring down his government a year ago. That difference reached a euro-era record 575.6 basis points on Nov. 9, 2011, days before he resigned and Monti was appointed to lead an unelected government of non-politicians.

“We should stop talking about this scam. We never used to talk about it; why does it matter?” Berlusconi said about the spread. “It has been used to try to bring down a majority government voted by the Italians. Behind the crisis there has been a German strategy,” he said.”

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China’s Recovery Restricted by Less Than Expected Yuan Loan Sales

“China’s new yuan loans trailed forecasts last month, restraining the pace of recovery in the world’s second-biggest economy after a seven-quarter slowdown.

Banks extended 522.9 billion yuan ($84 billion) of local- currency loans, the People’s Bank of China said today. That compares with a 550 billion yuan median estimate in a Bloomberg Newssurvey of 30 economists and 562.2 billion yuan the same month last year. M2, the broadest measure of money supply, rose 13.9 percent from a year earlier, below the median estimate of 14.1 percent.”

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Recreational pot proclaimed legal in Colorado

DENVER — Marijuana for recreational use became legal in Colorado Monday, when the governor took the procedural step of declaring the voter-approved change part of the state constitution.

Colorado became the second state after Washington to allow pot use without a doctor’s recommendation. Both states prohibit public use of the drug, and commercial sales in Colorado and Washington won’t be permitted until after regulations are written next year.

Hickenlooper, a Democrat, opposed the measure but had no veto power over the voter-approved amendment to the state constitution. He tweeted his declaration Monday and sent an executive order to reporters by email after the fact. That prevented a countdown to legalization as seen in Washington, where the law’s supporters gathered to smoke in public to celebrate.

The law gave Hickenlooper until Jan. 5 to declare marijuana legal. He told reporters Monday he saw no reason to wait and didn’t see any point in letting marijuana become legal without his proclamation.

“If the voters go out and pass something and they put it in the state constitution, by a significant margin, far be it from myself or any governor to overrule. I mean, this is why it’s a democracy, right?” Hickenlooper said.

Adults over 21 in Colorado may now possess up to an ounce of marijuana, or six plants. Public use and sale of the drug remain illegal. Read more

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