Thursday, August 26, 2010

Daily Markets - Pressing Pause ‘Til Friday

Daily Markets - Pressing Pause ‘Til Friday

Pressing Pause ‘Til Friday

Posted: 26 Aug 2010 11:35 AM PDT

The market bounced a little on Wednesday in the face of some pretty horrific economic news (Durable Goods and New Home Sales). And at the open on Thursday it extended the run after a mildly positive weekly Jobless Claims report. Yes, 473,000 new jobs lost is better than 495,000 expected. But it's still above the average for the year, and the trend is headed in the wrong direction.

Now with all that said, the market is now see-sawing around the breakeven market. That is because tomorrow … [visit site to read more]

Healthways Partners MedNetworks

Posted: 26 Aug 2010 11:35 AM PDT

Healthways Inc. (NASDAQ:HWAY) recently announced a new relationship with MedNetworks Inc., a company offering functional know-how to map, analyze, and activate social networks. Its knowledge-base was primarily developed by Professor Nicholas Christakis of Harvard University. MedNetworks has sole permission from Harvard to apply the technology in the health care sector.
 
The two parties will work in conjunction to apply the concept of social network mapping to population health management. A … [visit site to read more]

Fixed Annuities vs. CDs: Which One Should You Invest Your Money In?

Posted: 26 Aug 2010 11:30 AM PDT

During times of subpar market performance, many potential investors look at fixed annuities in order to have at least a minimal guaranteed return. Fixed annuities have always been in competition with CDs since they both offer guaranteed low rates. For the most part, CDs have had the advantage since they offer more liquidity of funds. After the contract period has passed with a CD, the total sum of money is yours to do with as you please. Fixed annuities keep your money locked up for longer … [visit site to read more]

Emerging Markets To Drive Healthcare ETFs

Posted: 26 Aug 2010 11:17 AM PDT

As emerging markets continue to grow and affluence rises, the developing world is likely to be the driving force behind growth in the global health care sector paving the path to opportunity in the iShares S&P Global Healthcare Sector Index Fund (IXJ), the iShares Dow Jones US Pharmaceuticals Index Fund (IHE) and the Vanguard Health Care ETF (VHT).
A report released by UBS (NYSE:UBS) indicates that developing nations are expected to account for $550 billion of annual drug sales per year … [visit site to read more]

LMT Wins $69.8M Missile Contract

Posted: 26 Aug 2010 11:05 AM PDT

The largest US defense contractor, Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) won a $69.8 million contract from the Department of Defense for work on a missile-defense system.
 
The prime area of focus for Lockheed Martin will be to provide engineering work on the Aegis missile-defense complex through its systems and sensors business. Additionally, the company will also be providing initial maintenance and support services.
 
Lockheed Martin is the largest provider of IT services, systems … [visit site to read more]

BHI Gets DOJ Nod For Asset Sale

Posted: 26 Aug 2010 11:05 AM PDT

Baker Hughes Inc. (NYSE:BHI) received the approval from the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for the sale of a package of Gulf of Mexico (GoM) based simulation assets. Baker will sell the assets to Superior Energy Services Inc. (NYSE:SPN) for $55 million as announced on July 6, 2010.
 
The assets include two stimulation vessels (HR Hughes and Blue Ray) and the BJ Services sand control completion tools product line, including a tool and screen manufacturing facility and … [visit site to read more]

Pride Int’l: Persuasive Deepwater

Posted: 26 Aug 2010 10:35 AM PDT

We believe that downward pressure on rig utilization and dayrates will continue in the near term resulting from newbuild capacity as well as the impact of the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) moratorium. However, long-term fundamentals of the offshore story remain favorable, especially the deepwater end of it.
 
This is reflected by the dedication of Deep Ocean Clarion, the second of Pride International Inc.'s (NYSE:PDE) four new deepwater drillships under construction by Samsung Heavy Industries in … [visit site to read more]

Diageo Posts Higher Profit

Posted: 26 Aug 2010 10:35 AM PDT

Diageo Plc.'s (NYSE:DEO) fiscal 2010 net income from continuing operations grew 1.5% to £1.63 billion ($2.58 billion) from £1.61 billion in the year-ago period. Earnings per share came in at £0.65 ($4.11 per ADR), compared to £0.64 per share in the year-ago quarter.

Net sales recorded growth of 5% year-over-year to £9.78 billion ($15.48 billion). Excluding the impact of foreign exchange, acquisitions and disposals, organic sales logged a growth of 2%. Volumes also grew 2% year-over-year to … [visit site to read more]

Roche Enters Into Deal With Aileron

Posted: 26 Aug 2010 10:35 AM PDT

Roche Holdings Ltd. (RHHBY) recently announced that it entered into a collaboration agreement with Aileron Therapeutics Inc. for the discovery, development and commercialization of Stapled Peptide Therapeutics. Stapled Peptide Therapeutics, a new class of drugs, was discovered as a result of Aileron's breakthrough peptide stabilization technology.
 
The companies plan to work together to develop potential treatments for up to five undisclosed targets selected from Roche's key … [visit site to read more]

NextEra Energy Cuts CO2 Emissions

Posted: 26 Aug 2010 10:05 AM PDT

Electric utility NextEra Energy Inc. (NEE) through significant investment in its producing facilities has considerably lowered the emission of green house gases. NextEra's carbon dioxide (CO2) emission rate declined 33% to 657 pounds per megawatt-hour in 2009 from 985 pounds per megawatt-hour in 2000. The present emission rate of the company is around 50% below the U.S. electric power sector average of 1,297 pounds per megawatt-hour.
 
At the end of 2009, NextEra Energy was the … [visit site to read more]

Fluor Corp Wins Contract

Posted: 26 Aug 2010 10:05 AM PDT

Fluor Corporation (NYSE:FLR) has won a contract for providing consultancy work on Abu Dhabi's new Integrated Public Transportation Network.
 
A mass-transit system is being constructed to accommodate anticipated growth over the coming decades in support of Plan Abu Dhabi 2030. Fluor will provide consulting services to the Abu Dhabi Department of Transportation on modeling and system integration, engineering, procurement and commissioning, commercial upliftment and analysis of financing … [visit site to read more]

Guess? Beats, Stock Tanks

Posted: 26 Aug 2010 10:05 AM PDT

Guess? Inc. (NYSE:GES) delivered record earnings per share (EPS) of 72 cents in its second quarter ended July 31, 2010, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 69 cents. Earnings were also 13% above 64 cents reported in the year-ago quarter and beat the company's guided range of 65 cent to 68 cents.

The company's expansion in Europe and Asia has paid off, with the regions contributing more than half the quarter's revenue growth. This is commendable considering the headwinds caused by the … [visit site to read more]

Earnings Preview: Tiffany & Company

Posted: 26 Aug 2010 09:35 AM PDT

Tiffany & Company (NYSE:TIF), a high-end jewelry designer, manufacturer and retailer, is scheduled to report its second-quarter 2010 financial results before the bell on Friday, August 27, 2010. The current Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter is 53 cents a share.
 
First-Quarter 2010, a Synopsis
 
Tiffany posted stronger-than-expected first-quarter 2010 results buoyed by improved demand for luxury items worldwide. The quarterly earnings of 50 cents a share, excluding one-time … [visit site to read more]

The US Is Headed For A Double-Dip Recession

Posted: 26 Aug 2010 09:23 AM PDT

Good day ladies and gents! Here’s my take on the US economy. In today’s feature is actually the daily chart of the Dow Jones Industrial Average or DJIA. For those who do not know, the DJIA or DJI is the stock index of the 3o biggest US companies. The index of course, reflects the present average prices of the included companies. Positive or negative sentiment towards any one of these firms are of course “priced in” in their respective valuation and in the index as a whole. So if these … [visit site to read more]

CAKE Opens Unit, Plans Growth

Posted: 26 Aug 2010 09:05 AM PDT

California-based Cheesecake Factory Inc. (NASDAQ:CAKE) announced that it had opened a Cheesecake Factory restaurant at the Bridgewater Commons in Bridgewater, New Jersey on August 23. The new 8,500 square feet Bridgewater restaurant can accommodate 225 guests. This is the third and last unit opening for this year.
 
In the first quarter of 2010, the company opened two restaurants in Tucson, Arizona and Newark, Delaware. Cheesecake's restaurants are primarily located in or near malls and … [visit site to read more]

3M Wins Contract

Posted: 26 Aug 2010 09:05 AM PDT

3M Company (NYSE:MMM) has won an order to supply sterilization assurance products to Premier Inc, a medical services provider. 3M's products will be used in 2,400 hospitals and 70,000 centers affiliated to Premier.
 
3M Company was also awarded another contract to help member hospitals to cut costs by using simplified purchase functions.
 
The 3M brand is recognized and trusted around the world. Household names like Nexcare, Post-it, Scotch, Scotch-Brite, and Scotchgard are market … [visit site to read more]

Roubini: Growth At Stall Speed

Posted: 26 Aug 2010 09:03 AM PDT

Sense on Cents is serving a full helping of Nouriel Roubini today.

Hopefully, our morning course only served to further whet your appetite for more financial wisdom from this economic giant. Having already dined on market structures, the world of Wall Street, and assorted vices and virtues this morning, this afternoon we are serving a course of Roubini's outlook on the economy.
Bon appetit as Bloomberg delivers, Roubini Says Third Quarter Growth to Be 'Well Below' 1%:

Nouriel Roubini, … [visit site to read more]

Initial Claims Down, Extended Claims Up

Posted: 26 Aug 2010 08:35 AM PDT

Initial Claims for Unemployment Insurance fell to 473,000, a drop of 31,000 from last week. That is good news, but only in terms of the direction. After several weeks in a row of new claims shooting higher, the upward momentum has been stalled. But initial claims remain far too high.

The four-week moving average continued to advance raising by 3,250 to 486,750. That is the highest level for the moving average since last November. After falling sharply in the second half of last year, the … [visit site to read more]

Brookfield Gains Control Of Spinco

Posted: 26 Aug 2010 08:35 AM PDT

Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:BAM), a global asset manager focused on property, renewable power and infrastructure assets with over $100 billion of assets under management, has recently gained management control of Spinco Inc., the spin-off division of General Growth Properties Inc. (NYSE:GGP).
 
In April 2009, General Growth had voluntarily sought relief under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code to reduce and restructure its debts after several months of negotiation with the … [visit site to read more]

NVS Acquires Majority Share In ACL

Posted: 26 Aug 2010 08:35 AM PDT

Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) recently became a majority shareholder of eye care company Alcon Inc. (NYSE:ACL) following the purchase of about 156 million shares from Swiss corporation Nestlé S.A. (NESN.VX) for $28.3 billion.
 
On April 6, 2008, Nestlé had signed a purchase and option agreement with Novartis, whereby Nestlé agreed to sell about 74 million of its share of Alcon's common stock to Novartis. At that time, Novartis acquired a 25% stake in Alcon for $10.4 billion. In early January … [visit site to read more]

Australian Dollar: Continuation Of The Rebound

Posted: 26 Aug 2010 08:18 AM PDT

Update on supports and resistances. … [visit site to read more]

Canadian Dollar: Bullish Bias Above 1035

Posted: 26 Aug 2010 08:18 AM PDT

Update on supports and resistances. … [visit site to read more]

US Housing Woes Cause Euro To Sink To Recent Lows

Posted: 26 Aug 2010 08:17 AM PDT

Fundamentals
The Euro has given back about half of the gains made from early June to early August, due to economic fears. In early June, some traders had begun to believe that the worst may be over for EU banks and the global economy, causing prices to rise. The dismal economic data that had begun to trickle in earlier this month has caused traders to rethink their analysis. The US Dollar has found a bit of strength recently, due to a bit of defensive posturing and demand for US government … [visit site to read more]

Stryker Buying Gaymar Industries

Posted: 26 Aug 2010 08:05 AM PDT

Orthopedic devices giant Stryker Corp. (NYSE:SYK) has struck a definitive agreement to acquire privately held medical product maker Gaymar Industries for $150 million in cash. The boards of both companies have approved the deal and pending customary closing conditions, the transaction is expected to close on October 1, 2010. Stryker's shares were down 18 cents (or 0.42%) to $42.94 in after-hours trading on August 25.  
 
Orchard Park, New York based Gaymar (found in 1956) … [visit site to read more]

Delta Launches Tender Offers

Posted: 26 Aug 2010 08:05 AM PDT

Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE:DAL), the world's largest airline, commenced cash tender offers to buy certain pass through certificates and its 11.75% senior second lien notes due in 2015. The offer is a part of Delta's ongoing efforts to reduce debt.
 
The offer includes three series of Northwest Airlines pass through certificates, Delta's own pass through certificates series and its 11.75% senior second lien notes due in 2015, using a modified Dutch auction procedure.
 
Delta Air … [visit site to read more]

Guy Spier’s Reading List

Posted: 26 Aug 2010 07:37 AM PDT

Guy Spier might not be well known, but he is no doubt a great value investor. He did his MBA at the Harvard Business School (class of 1993) and has a First Class degree in PPE (Politics, Philosophy and Economics) from Oxford University, where he studied at Brasenose College. Upon graduating, he was co-awarded the George Webb Medley prize for the best performance in that year in Economics.
Since Guy opened his value fund in September 2007, his fund has returned 186% net of fees. The fund called … [visit site to read more]

Forex Trading: EURUSD In See-saw, Up And Down Action In NY Sesssion

Posted: 26 Aug 2010 07:27 AM PDT

Singapore Stock Market Update For Thursday 26 August

Posted: 26 Aug 2010 03:08 AM PDT

Morning Highlights

Singapore market higher, with STI up 5.14 points to open at 2931.69.
On the other hand, shares in Sydney is resilient despite uncertainty over who would form Australia’s next government after the country’s federal election resulted in a hung parliament

Singapore’s July manufacturing output grew at the slowest pace in eight months, as biomedical output suffered its first yearly decline since December 2009

Watch Out For Economic News Today:

Hong Kong  July Exports … [visit site to read more]
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