Who wants to bet better than expected ?

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Neither bankruptcy nor a liquidation can kill iconic brands.

Before the ink was even dry on Hostess Brands’ bankruptcy filing Wednesday morning, interested buyers were already digging into the potential value of the Hostess name and how Twinkie, Ding Dong or Wonder Bread could be repurposed into other consumer products.

For now, Hostess will continue to churn out Twinkies, but many in the bankruptcy world are questioning whether the maker of snack foods can survive.

This is Hostess Brands’ second trip in bankruptcy court. It emerged in 2009 after a four and a half year restructuring.

Should Hostess Brands choose to liquidate rather than reorganize, the brand names – Twinkies, Ding Dongs and Wonder Bread – will very likely live on.

Sounds crazy, but lawyers say it is necessary to keep what little employees are left.

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After have some trouble with censorship by the Chinese government, Google left China. Now two years after they have vowed to enter and expand in China.

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They would not say which brand….so don’t buy either Minute Maid or Simply Orange for now.

From Bloomberg

Gapping up 

SLV +1.9%, BHP +1.9%, HBC +1.6%, AUY +1.6%, DB +4.9%, TSCO +4.9%, JAG +4.4%, ING +3.9%, WLT +3.8%,

MT +3.5%, UBS +2.9%, BBL +2.4%, RIO +2.3%, STD +2.2%, GOLD +2.1%, PRST +39.3%, MFLX +9.6%, TACT +7.6%, BCS +5.2%,

DKS +5.8%, AUY+1.4%, TACT +7.6%, JAG +4.4%, WLT +3.8% , OPWV +6.8%, QCOR +2.6%,

TGT +1.8%, GOOG+0.6%

Gapping down

BGFV -7.1%, EXFO -5.1%, RELL -4.6%, PVH -4.1%, CPT -2.8%,  INFY -10.5%, DRWI -9.8%,  LINE -2.1%, CVX -1.4%,

Source

American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) Reiterated Buy with $60 target at Argus.
Atmel Corporation (NASDAQ: ATML) Maintained Buy but cut target to $11 at Canaccord Genuity.
BlackRock Inc. (NYSE: BLK) Started as Buy at UBS.
Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) Maintained Outperform but cut earnings estimates at Credit Suisse.
Continental Resources (NYSE: CLR) Cut to Hold with $79 target at Canaccord Genuity.
Entertainment Properties Trust (NYSE: EPR) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
France Telecom SA (NYSE: FTE) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
HSBC Holdings PLC (NYSE: HBC) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
Juniper Networks Inc. (NYSE: JNPR) Cut to Hold at Argus.
Lennar Corporation (NYSE: LEN) Cut to Market Perform at KBW.
Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: LECO) named as Value stock of the day at Zacks.
MarkWest Energy Partners (NYSE: MWE) named as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) Maintained Outperform but cut target to $34 from $35 at Credit Suisse; Maintained Hold and lowered estimates at Argus.
Oasis Petroleum (NYSE: OAS) Cut to Hold with $32 target at Canaccord Genuity.
SUPERVALU Inc. (NYSE: SVU) Maintained Neutral but cut target to $7 from $10 at Credit Suisse.

In Play

On the Wires

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iLaxOgcUco 603 500] [youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8Uaf7JN6DM 603 500]

Full report

Please….if you want a light drinking beer you got to go with Moosehead, Rolling Rock or some of the Mexican beers…Coors and Bud are not beers…

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Who drives a minivan ?

GM is in talks to save Opel by shifting manufacturing to Germany…

Read here:

Usually, trade shows are all about playing with prototypes and spotting future trends. But at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, which opened Tuesday in Las Vegas, what’s creating the most buzz is what’s not there.

Of course, there are thousands of devices being introduced this week in the desert.

Nokia is back with Windows-based smart phones and is vowing to slay the Android giant. There are connected cars and smart refrigerators (yes, again). And computers. Ultra laptops–small, svelte, near-instant-on computers–are being pushed with several manufacturers announcing slick devices.

But what’s not at the show are two components that could stifle the ultra yawns: Intel’s new mobile processors, which won’t appear until the spring, and Microsoft’s new Windows 8 operating system with touch features, which wasn’t ready in time for a CES debut.

Instead, the big Microsoft news has been that it’s abandoning CES. This will be its final appearance at the trade show, and CEO Steve Ballmer’s desultory final CES keynote didn’t exactly inspire the technorati. The Kinect gesture and voice recognition game controller will now (officially) work with PCs, and Windows 8 will be out later this year, according to Ballmer. The CEO also promised that current Windows 7 PCs will be able to run the new Window 8 software (translation: if it works on existing hardware, it’s not much of an upgrade).

Also failing to make an appearance are new gaming console models, updates to Microsoft’s Xbox 360, Sony’s PlayStation 3, or Nintendo’s Wii. Nintendo has promised a new model, and Microsoft and Sony are rumored to be preparing announcements for this summer.

However, it may be too little, too late as televisions continue to offer more features and power–including casual games and online entertainment.

No love for Ichan at Commercial Metals

Will they rebound ?

Full preview

Gapping up

ALU +4.9%, BORN +19.4%, LUX +2.6%,  INSW +13.9%, EK +13.3%, MFRM +6.3%,  YOKU +7.1%,  MFRM +6.3%,

AKS +2% , MAS +1.7%, ROK +0.6%, CROX +5.6%, SNX +4.4%, SVM +1%, EK +13.3%, BORN +20.6%,  EFII +7.4%,

Gapping down

STO -2.4%, TOT -2.2%, BP -2%, DLA -22.4%, URBN -15.2%, CWTR -5.8%, TWO -3.7%, RGLD -3.6%, BPAX -7.3%,

E -1.2%, RIG -1.1%, HAL -1%, UN -3%, IHG -2.4%, BP -2%, HRC -2%, VMED -2%, STD -1.2%, E -1%, MSFT -1.1% ,

RGLD -3.6%, PHG -2.5%, WBMD -1.9%, LAZ -1.9%,  EMR -1.4%,  HBAN -1.2%,  SI -1%, KO -0.8%,