[youtube://http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=6Cf7IL_eZ38&vq=medium 450 300]

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“If Windows Vista was Microsoft’s folly – a mish-mash of ideas not fully baked and aimed at multiple constituencies – Windows 8 is Microsoft’s rebirth. To get to ecstatic about it isn’t quite the direction I’d like to take this mini-review, but let’s just say that Microsoft is on the cusp of getting things right.

As we said before, Windows 8 will ruffle a lot of feathers. The first and most obvious comparison is with the new Windows Phone interface. The “Start” menu is gone, replaced by what amounts to the entire Metro UI. This UI – the one with the multiple, animated squares, is the one that matters.

Then there’s the Explorer. Every so often – and it will happen more in the beginning of Win8′s life cycle, the OS drops into “original” Windows, the Windows of tiny, uselessly-labeled buttons and overlapping windows and notification screens. Gone are the tiles and gently pulsing images, in comes Windows 95.

Woe betide Microsoft for maintaining ties to the original Windows with this odd accretion of functionality – they’re going to be ripped apart by the blogging masses – but this is the second time I’ve seen the interface and I’m accepting of the compromise. Going from Metro to “Windows” is like going from the Museum of Modern Art to a bodega Across the street. You’ll get more done, but damned if you don’t miss the cool, calm design and attention to detail….”

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Collective Brands Inc. (PSS) : The owner of the Payless ShoeSource chain reported a smaller fourth-quarter loss than analysts estimated as new product assortments boosted sales.

Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) rallied 1.3 percent to $86.40. The largest U.S. warehouse-club chain posted second- quarter profit that topped analysts’ estimates and said revenue growth was maintained in February.

DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. (DWA) : The maker of the “Kung Fu Panda” films said fourth-quarter profit tumbled 72 percent as DVD sales declined.

Ferro Corp. (FOE) dropped 5.6 percent to $6.46. The maker of porcelain enamel for cookware and appliances reported an adjusted fourth-quarter loss of 8 cents a share, wider than the estimated loss of 4 cents a share.

FirstEnergy Corp. (FE) : The owner of utilities in Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey said earnings excluding some items will be $3.30 to $3.60 a basic share this year, more than the average analyst estimate of $3.27 in a Bloomberg survey.

First Solar Inc. (FSLR) fell 8.2 percent to $33.40. The world’s largest maker of thin-film solar panels reported a fourth-quarter loss as panel prices dropped and it took charges related to restructuring efforts.

Kodiak Oil & Gas Corp. (KOG) dropped 3.4 percent to $9.97. The Denver-based oil and natural gas explorer with assets in the Williston Basin of North Dakota reported fourth-quarter revenue of $55 million, missing the average analyst estimate of $58.9 million.

LSB Industries Inc. (LXU) : The maker of chemical and climate-control products reported fourth-quarter earnings of $1.19 a share, beating the average analyst estimate of 86 cents.

Mylan Inc. (MYL) (MYL US): The generic-drug company agreed to pay $57 million to settle claims it caused the U.S. and California to overpay for drugs.

TeleTech Holdings Inc. (TTEC) : The provider of customer management support to companies reported fourth-quarter profit of 29 cents a share, excluding some items, missing the average analyst estimate of 39 cents. The company also announced the purchase of marketing analytics firm iKnowtion.

Universal Display Corp. (PANL) : The developer of technologies used in flat-panel displays reported fourth-quarter revenue of $18.7 million, topping the average analyst estimate of $17.9 million.

Gapping up 

VRSK +9.1%, APEI +6.9%, PSS +4.1%, CPRT +2.6%, Y +1.9%, WDC +1.6%, DB +1.2%, IRE +2.8%, IBN +2.1%, DB +1.8%, CS +0.9%, BCS +0.8%, MDW +3.7%,

VRSK +4.3%, SPLS +3.1%, CPRT +2.6%, SDRL +1.8%, COST +1.7%, LIZ +1.1%, FARO +0.4% , PAAS +2.5%, WDC +1.6%,  TOL +1%,  FRC +0.6%,

SVM +1.4%, HL +1.0%, GOLD +0.9%, SLV +0.9%, AU +0.9%, SLW +0.8%, BHP +0.7%,

Gapping down

TTEC -16.1%, FSLR -8.5%, PANL -5.9%, DWA -5.3%, VOCS -5.1%, KOG -5%, EXLP -4.5%, KYN -4.5%, SGY -3%, MWE -3%, NLST -1.3%, SODA -13.7%, CEDC -10.3%,

FSLR -6.6%, PANL -5.9%, FOE -5.6%, DWA -5.3%, KOG -5%, MWE -3%, RLH -2.6%, FE -0.9%, CSTR -1.8%, MRO -0.8%,CNQ -0.6%,  APOL -0.3%,

In Play 

On the Wires

They may have to make some major technological shifts to stay viable before staying competitive…..

“American Airlines was sued by its pilots’ union, which is seeking to block the airline from rejecting a labor agreement and forcing new employment terms on the union because the contract has expired.

American parent AMR Corp. (AAMRQ) can’t use its bankruptcy case to reject the collective bargaining agreement because the contract expired in 2008, the Allied Pilots Association said in a complaint filed yesterday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York.

American, based in Fort Worth, Texas, filed for bankruptcy in November, saying its cost structure wasn’t competitive with other airlines. Companies can use bankruptcy to reject labor contracts with unions to cut costs….”

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“Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM)are among banks warned by federal regulators that they may face civil claims tied to sales of mortgage-backed securities.

Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo said yesterday that they received Wells notices from the Securities and Exchange Commission, warning that agency staff may recommend enforcement. The SEC has issued such notices to multiple banks including JPMorgan, the nation’s largest, in probes focusing on mortgage securities, said people with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be identified because the communications weren’t public.

“It’s a big deal given the level of anticipation that has been in the markets about whether there would be further actions,” said Jacob Frenkel, a former SEC lawyer now with Shulman Rogers Gandal Pordy & Ecker PA in Potomac, Maryland. “These cases were complicated and time-consuming and the government has said for a long time that its investigations were continuing. These Wells notices are the manifestation of these investigations coming to their conclusion.”

Almost four years after mounting mortgage defaults prompted unprecedented government bailouts of the financial system, regulators are still examining how banks packaged and sold home loans to investors. The SEC is looking for evidence that firms failed to disclose underlying credit weaknesses in mortgage pools and delinquencies, Jason Anthony, special counsel for the agency’s structured products unit, said last week. He didn’t identify companies under scrutiny….”

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A ‘secretive market’ has tripled recently giving investment banks a chance to make money as beneficial as the IPO market.

“The European Central Bank, which today offered lenders a second round of unlimited loans, will help some bank stocks double this year, say top fund managers who successfully bet on the biggest bank rally since 2009.

Italian lenders such as Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA and Banca Popolare di Milano Scarl will benefit the most from the ECB initiative aimed at helping banks borrow during Europe’s debt crisis, according to Nicolas Walewski, who manages 2 billion euros ($2.7 billion) in European equities at Alken Asset Management LLP. Other top managers from Mandarine Gestion SA and MainFirst Bank AG are betting lenders including BNP Paribas SA (BNP), France’s biggest bank, may rise by as much as 50 percent…”

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“Euro-area banks tapped the European Central Bank for a record amount of three-year cash in an operation that may boost bond and equity markets.

The Frankfurt-based ECB said today it will lend 800 financial institutions 529.5 billion euros ($712.2 billion) for 1,092 days. Economists predicted an allotment of 470 billion euros, according to the median of 28 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. In the ECB’s first three-year operation in December, 523 banks borrowed 489 billion euros.

“The astonishing number this time is the number of banks participating, which signals that a lot more small banks looked for the money and it is likely they will pass it on to the economy,” said Laurent Fransolet, head of fixed income strategy Barclays Capital in London, who estimates about 300 billion euros of the total is new lending. “So the impact may be bigger than with the first one.”

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TV series now account for more than half of all Netflix viewing. That helps to explain why this Wednesday — the long-awaited moment when motion picture classics like “Scarface” and newer hits like “Toy Story 3” will vanish from the streaming service — is not the doomsday that it was once expected to be.

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The stock was down $5 on this miss and now is off by just $1.

First Solar reaffirms FY12 $3.75-4.25 vs $4.18 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; lowers revs to $3.5-3.8 bln from $3.7-4.0 bln vs $3.79 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate

First Solar prelim $1.26 vs $1.59 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; revs $660 mln vs $784.06 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate

Dirt cheap to wallow in the mire…

“Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) asked the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that the company can’t be sued by Nigerians seeking damages for torture and murders committed by their government in the early 1990s.

The high court in Washington is considering whether companies are exempt from two statutes imposing liability for human-rights violations. Shell, Europe’s biggest oil company, argued today that the Alien Tort Statute, which dates to 1789, can’t be used to sue corporations. The Nigerian plaintiffs claim there’s nothing in the law that limits liability to individuals.

“We do not urge a rule of corporate impunity here,” said Kathleen Sullivan, a lawyer for Shell. “Corporate officers are liable for human-rights violations and for those they direct among their employees. There can also be suits under state law or the domestic laws of nations. But there may not be ATS federal common-law causes of action against corporations.”

The case, Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co., was filed in 2002 by 12 Nigerians claiming they were harmed by “widespread and systematic human rights violations” committed by the regime of the former military dictator Sani Abacha, including torture, executions, illegal detentions and indiscriminate killings in the Ogoni region of the Niger Delta.

‘No Claim’

Paul Hoffman, who represents the Nigerian plaintiffs, criticized Shell’s position, arguing that “even if these corporations had jointly operated torture centers with the military dictatorship inNigeria to detain, torture, and kill all opponents of Shell’s operations in Ogoni, the victims would have no claim.”

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One is the loneliest number that you’ll ever do. Seven and a half, on the other hand, is a far friendlier number, and it’s the number of things you need to know each day. Here’s today’s supply:

Thing One: Corporations Are People, My Friend: We all know by now that corporations are people just like you and me. The Supreme Court and Mitt Romney have said as much, so it’s pretty much settled. And we all know that, just like you and me, corporations should be allowed to spend their billions on political campaigns without any limit. And they should definitely be allowed to take part in atrocities overseas without having to worry about being dragged into court over it. Who didn’t indulge in a little casual genocide when they were backpacking through Europe? We were young! Well, somebody apparently thought this was such a bad idea they made a federal case out of it, literally. It’s called Kiobel vs. Royal Dutch Petroleum (great guy, that RDP). The Supreme Court hears arguments on the case today, writes Mike Sacks of The Huffington Post. If the justices vote along party lines, as judges have throughout the course of the case, then they will probably vote to exempt companies from being held responsible for atrocities overseas — which, as it turns out, is completely the opposite of how individual people are treated. Fortunately, the justices can rely on international law, which they usually despise, to exempt corporations from personhood just this once, writes Mike, creating a Cognitive Dissonance Vortex that will open up and swallow the Earth whole. Problem solved.

Thing Two: Paying Taxes Is For Suckers: One other way that corporations are just like people is that they have to pay taxes, too, just like you and me. The only difference is that, while you or I could very well be hauled off to the hoosegow for paying only 2 percent of our income in taxes, a company like General Electric can get away with paying about 2 percent of its income in taxes for an entire decade, writes Alexander Eichler of The Huffington Post. “If you’ll think back to your high school math classes, you’ll recall that 2.3 percent is less than 35 percent,” Alexander observes. “That means GE is paying well below the top marginal corporate tax rate of 35 percent — the same tax rate that business leaders, politicians and conservative commentators have repeatedly deplored as high enough to impede economic growth.”

Thing Three: In The Eurozone: Speaking of problems solved, European stocks are higher this morning after European confidence indexes came in higher than expected — even though Europe is sinking into a recession, Standard & Poor’s declared thatGreece was in “selective” default on its debts, the ECB suspended acceptance of Greek bonds as collateral and Spain may be just a wee bit shy of meeting its budget targets.Details, details. Stocks are higher partly because Angela Merkel somehow managed to get Germany’s parliament to vote for the next big sack of money to be delivered to Greece, and because the ECB is set this week to roll out another massive short-term lending program. The last such lending program was a whopping success, letting European banks make free money by buying once-toxic Spanish and Italian bonds, the FT writes. Who says money doesn’t solve everything, particularly when that money is bottomless and somebody else’s?

Thing Four: Econorama: Back in the States, we get our own bucket full of economic data to chew on this morning. At 8:30 a.m. ET we get orders for durable goods made in U.S. factories in January — think refrigerators and airplanes. These are expected to drop after a big gain in December, but it’s a jerky data series. At 9:00 a.m. we get the Case-Shiller home-price index for December. These are some fairly old numbers, but they are expected to show that house prices were still falling in December, showing no sign yet of the housing bottom other economists say they’re seeing in other numbers. Finally, at 10:00 a.m. we get a consumer confidence reading from the Conference Board, a private research firm. This is expected to tick up again, but is still historically low. The question, as always, is what consumers do, not how they feel. We are capable of spending money even when we feel pretty bad, as long as we actually have money to spend.

Thing Five: Dow’s Lucky 13,000: The Dow Jones Industrial Average, a stock index built back in the days when men were men and cars got 40 rods to the hogshead as Yahweh intended, is nearing 13,000. Again. And again and again. Why does anybody care about this? Jim Browning of the Wall Street Journal goes in search of that knowledge and finds that, while market mavens scoff at the media’s focus on such round numbers, milestones like this do seem to cause the market to pause and reflect on how far it has come, the people it has hurt along the way, and whether it should keep climbing or start falling, sending everybody into a panic. Do the right thing, Dow.

Thing Six: Yahoo Versus Facebook: Yahoo may be getting a little long in the tooth as tech companies go, but it may yet get its hands on some of that upstart Facebook’s bajillions in IPO money. That’s because Yahoo can still sling a patent lawsuit with the best of them, and it thinks it can get some patent cash out of Facebook. That was the warning it gave the upstart whippersnapper on Monday, Reuters writes.

Thing Seven: Black Hole Sun:Since the hacking scandal began that engulfed his News Corporation (former employer of this here blogger), Rupert Murdoch has tried contrition, and now he’s trying defiance. Neither are working yet. After hacking and bribery accusations were leveled at his flagship tabloid, the Sun, Murdoch parachuted into London, bucked up the troops and launched a Sunday edition. The cop leading the investigation of the Sun fired back yesterday, the Guardian writes, saying the Sun had “established a ‘network of corrupted officials’ and created a ‘culture of illegal payments.'”

Thing Seven And One Half: A Couch Potato Gathers No Muscles: If you thought putting a Wii in the hands of a slothful child was going to help whip him or her into shape, then you might need to think again, Reuters writes. “All that virtual boxing, bowling and dancing along with video game systems might not be helping kids meet their daily exercise requirements, a new study suggests.”

Watch: The History of the Corporate Person

No different from short the broader market; but everyone is anticipating s divi out of Apple so tread lightly….