Thursday, March 17, 2011

DailyMarkets.com - Forex Trading: USDJPY Above 100 Bar MA (at 80.60) And 61.8% (at 80.66).

DailyMarkets.com - Forex Trading: USDJPY Above 100 Bar MA (at 80.60) And 61.8% (at 80.66).

Forex Trading: USDJPY Above 100 Bar MA (at 80.60) And 61.8% (at 80.66).

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 05:13 PM PDT

 The G7 has announce coordinated intervention in the USDJPY and this has forced the USDJPY higher. I would not fade this move. I expect dips to be bought.
If the price does correct below the 80.60-66 level (100 hour MA is 80.60 currently and Fibo is ay 80.66, the price can correct down to as low as the 38.2% retracement. A move below this level would not be welcomed. Look for buyers on dips toward this … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Forex – NZD/USD Up In Asian Trade

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 04:50 PM PDT

Forex Pros – The New Zealand Dollar was higher against the U.S. Dollar on Thursday.

NZD/USD was trading at 0.7210, up 0.43% at time of writing.

The pair was likely to find support at 0.7118, Wednesday's low, and resistance at 0.7423, Monday's high.

Meanwhile, the New Zealand Dollar was up against the Australian Dollar and the Euro, with AUD/NZD shedding 0.31% to hit 1.3612 and EUR/NZD falling 0.46% to hit … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Rail Traffic Continues Ongoing Weekly Gains

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 04:46 PM PDT

U.S. rail traffic continues to show consistent weekly gains, and the most recent week was no exception, here’s from today’s report from the American Association of Railroads:

March 17, 2011 – “The Association of American Railroads (AAR) today reported rail traffic gains for the week ending March 12, 2011, with U.S. railroads originating 292,164 carloads, up 1.3 percent compared with the same week last year. Intermodal volume for the week was also up, totaling 216,828 trailers and … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

GD Wins Army Training Contract

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 04:35 PM PDT

General Dynamics Information Technology, a business wing of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD), received an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract for the U.S. Army’s Combined Arms Center (CAC) Fort Leavenworth Support Services program.
The contract, spanning over five years, would amount to $260 million if all options are exercised.
Under this contract, General Dynamics will support CAC and other customers throughout the Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) of the U.S. Army for … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Raven Shows Strong Quarter

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 04:35 PM PDT

Raven Industries Inc. (NASDAQ:RAVN) reported net income of $7.4 million or 41 cents per share in the fourth quarter of its fiscal year, compared with $5.8 million or 32 cents a year earlier. With this, the company surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 35 cents.
For the full year, the company delivered EPS of $2.24, which was higher than $1.58 in the prior year and the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.18.
Raven's good performance can be attributed to innovative products, including energy … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Coca-Cola Enterprises Still Neutral

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 04:35 PM PDT

We reiterate our long-term ‘Neutral’ recommendation on Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. (NYSE:CCE) with a target price of $27.00 per share.
Coca Cola Enterprises is engaged in the marketing, production and distribution of non-alcoholic beverages, which include some of the most popular brands in its product portfolio. The company's product assortment encompasses a full range of beverage categories, including energy drinks, still and sparkling waters, sports drinks, fruit drinks, juices, coffee-based … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

UTX To Develop C919 Electric Power System

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 04:05 PM PDT

Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation and AVIC Electromechanical Systems Company Limited have finalized plans to jointly build the electric power system for the new Commercial Aviation Corporation of China (COMAC) C919 jetliner.
The two companies will build power generation and distribution systems and will serve as a tier one supplier to COMAC on this program.
Hamilton Sundstrand is a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE:UTX) and initiated its presence in the Chinese aviation market in 1985 … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Medtronic Grows DBS Portfolio

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 04:05 PM PDT

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) has strengthened its deep brain stimulation (DBS) portfolio with the launch of Activa SC neurostimulator in both the US and Europe. This product enhances the Activa portfolio of DBS systems, which consists of Activa PC, the smallest and most advanced primary cell battery and Activa RC, the only rechargeable DBS device. The DBS devices are meant to deal with symptoms of advanced Parkinson's disease.
More than 80,000 patients worldwide have received Medtronic DBS Therapy, … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

GD Wins Army Training Contract

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 04:05 PM PDT

General Dynamics Information Technology, a business wing of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD), received an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract for the U.S. Army’s Combined Arms Center (CAC) Fort Leavenworth Support Services program.
The contract, spanning over five years, would amount to $260 million if all options are exercised.
Under this contract, General Dynamics will support CAC and other customers throughout the Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) of the U.S. Army for … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Cleveland Fed Median CPI Inflation Only 1%

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 04:00 PM PDT

According to the Cleveland Fed’s report today, its median CPI measure of prices increased by 1.0% at an annual rate in February over the same month last year (see chart above).  In contrast, the regular CPI increased by 2.1% over the last year (February 2010 to February 2011), according to the BLS report this morning. 

Historically, the median CPI has been 50% more accurate at gauging future inflation than the traditional CPI (based on the Cleveland Fed’s research), and the median … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Forex – EUR/USD Down In Asian Trading Hours

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 04:00 PM PDT

Forex Pros – The Euro was lower against the U.S. Dollar on Thursday.

EUR/USD was trading at 1.4016, down 0.04% at time of writing.

The pair was likely to find support at 1.3856, Tuesday's low, and resistance at 1.4053, today's high.

Meanwhile, the Euro was down against the British Pound and up against the Japanese Yen, with EUR/GBP shedding 0.03% to hit 0.8688 and EUR/JPY rising 0.35% to hit … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Willis Group Prices Notes

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 03:55 PM PDT

Willis Group Holdings plc (NYSE:WSH) has priced its public offering of senior notes – $300 million of 4.125% senior notes due 2016 and $500 million of 5.75% senior notes due 2021.
Willis Group plans to deploy the net proceeds to repurchase or redeem $500 million 12.875% senior notes due 2016 as well as for general corporate purposes.
Rating agencies Standard & Poor's has assigned a BBB- credit rating to senior notes while Moody's Investor Services has assigned a Baa3 credit rating to the … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

General Mills Fights Hunger

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 03:55 PM PDT

General Mills Inc. (NYSE:GIS) has announced the launch of a program "Partners in Food Solutions," through which it will share the food processing expertise with global food makers to fight hunger in African nations. This is a non-profit program, which will help the local food processors to produce more food and feed a larger number of African people.
Higher profit for these local food processors will prompt them to source more ingredients from local small-holder farmers, creating an important … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

ATM Withdrawal Fees Moving North

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 03:55 PM PDT

Some banks have started raising fees (or imposing new ones) on customers who withdraw money from ATMs, according to Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal. The move is a part of the banks' strategy to recoup their financials from the impact of various financial regulations.
Banks such as JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), PNC Financial Services Group Inc. (NYSE:PNC) and The Toronto-Dominion Bank (NYSE:TD) have already changed their policy regarding ATM usage in order to collect more fee income. Though other … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

US Surpasses France As Top Wine Consuming Nation

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 03:55 PM PDT

03/17/11 The United States topped France as the world’s largest wine-consuming nation in … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Oracle Upgrades MySQL 5.5

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 03:35 PM PDT

Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ:ORCL) announced the availability of its updated version of MySQL 5.5 Enterprise Edition. The updated version is equipped with MySQL Enterprise Backup and MySQL Workbench as well as the upgraded MySQL Enterprise Monitor.
MySQL Enterprise Edition is an all-inclusive subscription offering that in addition to MySQL Database includes monitoring, backup and design tools for delivering cost-effective Online Transaction Processing (OLTP) database applications to customers worldwide.
The … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

PX To Sell U.S. Homecare Business

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 03:35 PM PDT

Praxair Inc. (NYSE:PX) recently agreed to sell its U.S. homecare business to Apria Healthcare Inc., according to an agreement signed between the two parties. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The companies are hopeful about completing the transaction soon.
The US homecare business, a part of Praxair’s North American healthcare business, provides home respiratory services and durable medical equipment to clients through its 85 branch locations and has operations across 27 … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Raytheon Greenland Radar All Set

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 03:35 PM PDT

Raytheon Company (NYSE:RTN) completed all the testing and system requirements of the Upgraded Early Warning Radar (UEWR) at Thule Air Base, Greenland.
The UEWR is now ready to carry out its missile defense mission, which is a critical component of the Ballistic Missile Defense System.
The UEWR will help the company to develop reliable radar solutions, add missile defense capabilities, and provide early detection and accurate tracking of incoming ballistic missiles. Additionally, the program will … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Canadian Solar To Build Solar Parks

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 03:35 PM PDT

Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ:CSIQ) and SkyPower Limited have announced an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) agreement to build a 10.5 MW solar park in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
This is their third agreement, as the two companies in December 2010 signed two EPC agreements to build two more solar parks. The companies have already entered into a financing agreement with Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE:DB) for the first two solar parks.
The first two solar parks are a 10.5 MW solar park in Napanee, home to … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Socialist Rant On Why D.C. Doesn’t Need Wal-Mart

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 03:35 PM PDT

The quote above is from the editorial “Walmart’s Arrival a Bad Deal for District,” which appears in the current edition of the Dupont Current, a neighborhood paper in Washington, D.C. 

Q: Should those restrictions also apply to other retailers operating in DC like Target, McDonald’s, Burger King, CVS Pharmacy, Barnes and Noble, Chipotle, Panera Bread, Home Depot, Starbucks, etc.? 

HT: Colin … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

The Day Ahead: Quadruple Witching

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 10:20 AM PDT

03/17/11 The stories, data, and stocks that may have the greatest impact during the next trading … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Hot Option Plays: Buyers Step Back In

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 03:18 PM PDT

Cusick's Corner
Buyers stepped back in today after a three day slide. Strong economic reports helped boost moods on Wall Street, temporarily putting aside fears over Japan's crisis. Heavy trading in the iShares Japan ETF (EWJ) continued for another day (see ETF Trading). The CBOE Volatility Index (.VIX) also saw another day of heavy trading and closed at 26 (see Index Trading). Tomorrow is the last trading day for expiring March stock, ETF and a few index options. Please check your … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

BHP Steps Up Repurchases

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 03:10 PM PDT

BHP Billiton Limited (NYSE:BHP) announced an off-market tender to buy back shares under its expanded US$10 billion capital management program.
In February, the company authorized a substantial capital management program of US$10 billion, expected to be completed by the end of 2011.
Last year, BHP revived its preceding share repurchase program of US$13 billion, under which US$4.2 billion was left. On December 14, 2007, the program was suspended and the total share repurchases were 384,724,355 for … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

EMC Signs New Partnership

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 03:10 PM PDT

EMC Corp. (EMC) signed a new strategic partnership with Harris Corp. (HRS) and Virtual Computing Environment Company (VCE).
The alliance will focus on developing and marketing multi-tenant cloud solutions to further accelerate the adoption of cloud infrastructure as a service (IaaS) by commercial and government enterprises.
Multi-tenant cloud solutions have numerous benefits including optimization of resource sharing, thereby providing high levels of isolation to the tenants and high quality … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

McGraw-Hill’s New Coalition

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 03:10 PM PDT

McGraw-Hill Professional, a division of McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. (NYSE:MHP), recently announced its coalition with Simbionix, which provides medicinal edification and simulation technology to medical professionals.
The coalition will help assimilate visual and scientific teaching materials from AccessSurgery, McGraw-Hill Professional’s online surgical training source, into Simbionix's MentorLearn. This will improve simulation-based learning and shore up surgical novelty and … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Forex – USD/JPY Up During The Asian Session

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 03:10 PM PDT

Forex Pros – The U.S. Dollar was higher against the Japanese Yen on Thursday.

USD/JPY was trading at 79.14, up 0.31% at time of writing.

The pair was likely to find support at 76.41, Wednesday's low, and resistance at 82.46, Monday's high.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Dollar was up against the Euro and down against the British Pound, with EUR/USD shedding 0.03% to hit 1.4017 and GBP/USD rising 0.07% to hit … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Synopsys Solutions In Demand

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 03:05 PM PDT

Synopsys Inc. (NASDAQ:SNPS) recently announced that its CustomSim solution for mixed-signal verification of high-performance multimedia system-on-chips (SoCs) has been selected by Amlogic, a leading fabless supplier of video, audio and image processing chips.    
Using CustomSim and VCS, Amlogic saw a five fold improvement in verification throughput compared with competitive solutions, in turn reducing the typical SoC verification cycle from five days to 21 hours. The technology … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Northrop Gets Navy Contract

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 03:05 PM PDT

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) was awarded a fixed price contract valued at $25 million by the US Navy for the preparation and completion of a dry dock continuous maintenance availability of submarine USS Albany. The work is expected to be completed by the end of July 2011.
Northrop Grumman’s Shipbuilding sector is the prime contractor and will provide advance planning, design, engineering, procurement, ship-checks, fabrication and preliminary shipyard work.
Northrop Grumman is planning … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Electronic Arts Faces Lawsuit

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 03:05 PM PDT

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) must defend a $400 million contract-interference lawsuit that was filed by its strongest competitor, Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ:ATVI), as per the latest judgement by a California Superior Court Judge.
California Superior Court Judge dismissed Electronic Arts plea that Activision had failed to provide facts to support its allegation that the rival company had talked two of Activision's executives out of their respective contracts.
The judge, without ruling on the … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

E*TRADE Sees Improved Activity

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 03:05 PM PDT

Online broker E*TRADE Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:ETFC) recorded a sequential gain of 3.0% in average U.S. trades, according to its Monthly Activity Report for February 2011.
Daily Average Revenue Trades (DARTs) last month were 185,717, up 3% sequentially and 34% on a year-over-year basis. Broker performance is generally measured through DARTs, which represent a number of trades from which brokers can expect commissions or fees.
At the end of the month, total accounts were approximately 4.3 … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Smith & Nephew Introduces SMF Hip

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 03:05 PM PDT

Medical devices major Smith and Nephew's (NYSE:SNN) orthopedic division recently launched its new Short Modular Femoral ("SMF") Hip System at the meeting of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. This new modular total hip replacement stem system with its wide range of surgical techniques will enable the surgeons to efficiently implant Smith & Nephew’s proprietary VERILAST advanced bearing material.
The SMF Hip System is 20% smaller than the traditional hip stems, thus,  it … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

ABB To Acquire 35% Stake In Novatec

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 03:05 PM PDT

ABB Ltd. (NYSE:ABB) entered into an agreement to acquire a 35% stake in Novatec Solar (previously known as Novatec Biosol), a Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) technology company based in Karlsruhe, Germany. The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
As per the deal, ABB has an option to acquire a 100% stake in Novatec Solar and will also have to assist solar power plant projects to be undertaken in future. With the addition of Novatec Solar's technology in CSP, ABB will be able to … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Kinetic Steady At Neutral

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 02:35 PM PDT

We recently reiterated our Neutral recommendation on Kinetic Concepts Inc. (NYSE:KCI), with a target price of $53.
Kinetic reported an adjusted EPS of $1.17, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.15 and the year-ago quarter's earnings of $1.10. Net sales of the company were almost in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate and the year-ago quarter's $527 million with a 5.5% decline in rental income to $288.5 million. A 2.3% revenue growth in the North American market was offset by a huge … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Stock Market Summary For Thursday, March 17, 2011

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 02:29 PM PDT

After yesterday’s meaningful strong selloff the major indexes were able to recover from a third to half of their losses.  Investor participation was not as strong as yesterday so the juror is still as to whether or not today is the start of a new uptrend in the market.  Market breadth was good in today’s session.  Staying with the action of the market we raising the support levels on the DJIA, S&P 500, and Nasdaq Composite (see below).  We are keeping … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Aegon Buys Back From Dutch State

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 02:25 PM PDT

AEGON N.V. (NYSE:AEG) has repurchased securities from the Dutch State, which had received the securities from Aegon for the capital support given at the time of the financial crisis.
Accordingly, Aegon has repurchased a total of €750 million convertible core capital securities, the intention of which was announced on February 24. Including this, Aegon has so far bought back a total of €2.25 billion, out of €3 billion state aid it had received. In addition, Aegon has committed to repurchase … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Rambus Renews Licensing Deal

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 02:25 PM PDT

Rambus Inc. (NASDAQ:RMBS) recently announced the renewal of its patent licensing agreement with Toshiba Corp. for five years. Per the terms of the agreement, Toshiba can use Rambus' patented DRAM memory controllers for SDR, DDR, DDR2, DDR3 and other devices.
Rambus will receive royalty payments based on the shipment of these devices during the contract period. This renewal agreement is a continuation of a long-standing relationship between the two (Toshiba was Rambus' first licensee).
Business … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Visa Expands Network Offerings

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 02:25 PM PDT

Yesterday, Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) announced a strategic product alliance with CashEdge and Fiserv Inc. (NASDAQ:FISV) that will grant them access to VisaNet and enable them to globally integrate Visa's personal payment service into the person-to-person (P2P) platforms, namely Popmoney of CashEdge and ZashPay of Fiserv. The new arrangement will further allow the participating banks’ customers to send money to a Visa account directly.
CashEdge and Fiserv are the leading providers of electronic P2P payment, … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Cliffs Prices Senior Notes

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 02:25 PM PDT

North America's largest iron-ore producer, Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE:CLF) recently priced its two trances of senior notes offering. One set of $700 million senior notes will bear an annual interest rate of 4.875% and will mature in ten years. Another set of $300 million senior notes will bear an annual interest rate of 6.25% and will mature on October 1, 2040.
Cliffs' $700 million offering is expected to close on March 23, 2011 and the $300 million offering is expected to close on … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

PKX To Buy Stake In A Brazilian Co

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 02:25 PM PDT

Korean steelmaker, POSCO (NYSE:PKX) in collaboration with the National Pension Service (NPS) and Japanese steel makers, Nippon Steel Corp and JFE Steel, entered into an agreement to acquire a 15% stake in Companhia Brasileira de Metalurgia e Mineracao (CBMM).
Companhia Brasileira de Metalurgia e Mineracao is the world’s largest Brazilian niobium company with roughly 800 million tons of niobium reserves. This rare metal is used for the production of high-grade steel products, especially catering to … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Closing Bell Market Monitor: FDX, GES, LULU

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 02:20 PM PDT

03/17/11 The latest in news, commentary, and information on what’s moving the US equities … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Label Updated For BMY’s Onglyza

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 02:05 PM PDT

Recently, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a revision to the label of type II diabetes drug, Onglyza (saxagliptin), which has been co-developed by Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) and AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN). 
The expanded label includes data from two studies. While one study indicated that Onglyza can be used in adults with type II diabetes suffering from kidney failure, another study emphasized the effectiveness of the combination of Onglyza and metformin.
One of the studies … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Denbury To Buy CO2

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 02:05 PM PDT

Denbury Onshore, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Denbury Resources Inc. (NYSE:DNR), has clinched two carbon dioxide (CO2) purchase contracts from anthropogenic sources in the Gulf Coast and Rocky Mountain regions. The cost of CO2 from these plants is priced competitively with other likely anthropogenic supplies of the gas.
The company intends to buy 100% CO2 that is being captured from the industrial gasification and liquefaction facility of Medicine Bow Fuel and Power LLC in Medicine Bow, … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

AMMD “Launches” New Prosthesis

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 02:05 PM PDT

Leading pelvic-health devices provider American Medical Systems (NASDAQ:AMMD) recently launched, in the U.S., its new Conceal Low Profile Reservoir, which is an improvement over its current market leading AMS 700 three-piece inflatable penile prosthesis used for the treatment of erectile dysfunction. 
The new Conceal reservoir is compatible with the AMS 700 cylinder and pump set-up and provides the flexibility of a single-size-fits-all configuration that can hold about 65 ml to 100 ml of … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Parker Hannifin Refinances Credit Facility

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 02:05 PM PDT

Parker Hannifin Corporation (NYSE:PH) has successfully refinanced its credit facility of $1.5 billion for the next five years. Parker is the first single-A rated diversified industrial company to secure favorable credit for a five-year period during the current economic recovery.
Availability of back-up credit from a world-wide group of lenders gives the company the ability to finance acquisitions, invest in global expansion initiatives, and drive organic growth through the funding of … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Contract Wins For Jacobs

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 02:05 PM PDT

Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (NYSE:JEC) recently won a technical and project management services contract from Jubail Chemical Industrial Company Ltd. (JANA), a wholly owned subsidiary of chemicals and petrochemicals sector operator, NAMA Chemicals.
The financial details of the contract were not disclosed. Under the terms of the contract, Jacobs will assist JANA's existing epichlorohydrin plant expansion and new epichlorohydrin plant at Jubail, a site in Saudi Arabia.
Jacobs technical and … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Itron Realigns Operating Segments

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 02:05 PM PDT

Itron Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) announced that the company will henceforth operate through two operating segments – Energy and Water. The new structure will strategically align Itron's global operations with its markets and will aid the company in meeting its near- and long-term goals.
Management believes this reorganization will help the company in augmenting its revenue, expanding its global presence, broadening its product portfolio and streamlining operations. The move will improve operational … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

MA Growth On Track, Regulation A Snag

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 02:05 PM PDT

Yesterday, we reiterated our Neutral recommendation on MasterCard Inc. (NYSE:MA) given the current sustainability factor. The company's fourth quarter operating earnings per share of $3.16 came in substantially ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.05 and $2.24 in the year-ago quarter. 
Results for the reported quarter improved over the prior-year quarter primarily attributable to better pricing, an increased number of processed transactions, strong gross dollar volume (GDV) growth … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Stock Market Alerts For Friday Mar 18

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 02:01 PM PDT

( click to enlarge )

Extremely bullish moves on Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG) are taking place over the last session's. The stock hit a high of $24.09, which is now resistance for friday's continuation move. If the stock can break through resistance, we should see another strong upside move. GLNG will move very quickly, so watch the stock closely on Friday.

 ( click to enlarge )

Hologic, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOLX) closed at $21.75, an increase by 63 cents or 2.98%. During today’s trading … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Forex – EUR/USD Up At The End Of U.S. Session

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 01:55 PM PDT

Forex Pros – The Euro was higher against the U.S. Dollar on Thursday.

EUR/USD was trading at 1.4020, up 0.86% at time of writing.

The pair was likely to find support at 1.3856, Tuesday's low, and resistance at 1.4053, today's high.

Meanwhile, the Euro was up against the British Pound and down against the Japanese Yen, with EUR/GBP gaining 0.19% to hit 0.8690 and EUR/JPY falling 0.04% to hit … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

MDT’s CoreValve Encourages

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 01:40 PM PDT

Leading medical devices player, Medtronic’s (NYSE:MDT) CardioVascular product line has added to its fortunes based on an independent study. The study shows that the aortic valve disease patients using Medtronic's CoreValve system will be getting speedy and consistent clinical benefits.
The study concludes that there is 98% chance of procedural success using CoreValve along with significant improvement in cardiac function. Medtronic's CoreValve system, a vital product of its CardioVascular … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Forex – USD/JPY Down Toward The End Of U.S. Session

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 01:40 PM PDT

Forex Pros – The U.S. Dollar was lower against the Japanese Yen on Thursday.

USD/JPY was trading at 78.91, down 0.86% at time of writing.

The pair was likely to find support at 76.41, Wednesday's low, and resistance at 82.46, Monday's high.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Dollar was down against the Euro and the British Pound, with EUR/USD gaining 0.91% to hit 1.4026 and GBP/USD rising 0.69% to hit … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Netflix To Stream “House Of Cards”

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 01:36 PM PDT

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) is in talks to acquire the internet streaming rights of a 26-episode drama, called "House of Cards," even before the show hits the small screen. The drama series, starring Kevin Spacey, is slated to be the first original TV series by the company. Netflix is expected to spend around $100.0 million.
"House of Cards" derives its title from a novel bearing the same name and is about a British Politician who desires to succeed Margaret Thatcher as the British prime … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Brightpoint Expanding Globally

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 01:36 PM PDT

A leading distributor of wireless devices, Brightpoint Inc. (NASDAQ:CELL) has bought a 23% stake in Intcomex, Inc, a leading provider of IT products in Latin America and the Carribean region.
Brightpoint will have to pay $15 million in cash for the acquisition. However, as per the deal, Intcomex will be allowed to sell its products through Brightpoint's dealers.
This mutual relationship between Brightpoint and Intcomex will benefit Brightpoint in two ways. Firstly, controlling a 23% stake will … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Charles Schwab Stays Neutral

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 01:35 PM PDT

We are maintaining our Neutral recommendation on shares of Charles Schwab Corp. (NASDAQ:SCHW), following the release of fourth quarter and fiscal 2010 results.
Charles Schwab's fourth quarter earnings came in at 18 cents per share, substantially ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 10 cents. This also compares favorably with the year-ago quarter's earnings of 14 cents.
Charles Schwab's results benefited primarily from a gain in asset management and administration fees, higher net interest … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

AMED Faces Face-to-Face Rule

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 01:35 PM PDT

Amedisys (NASDAQ:AMED), one of the leading US players in the home health and hospice segment has planned to participate in an online seminar to settle the commotion that has been created due to the Face-to-Face rule. This rule, imposed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), has created confusion regarding Amedisys' role.
Amedisys will be accompanied by two other national home health care providers in the webinar titled, 'Making Sense of the New Medicare Face-to-Face … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Barrick’s Cortez Mine Gets Approval

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 01:35 PM PDT

Barrick Gold Corporation's (NYSE:ABX) Cortez Hills mine in Nevadareceived anapproval from the U.S. land regulators for the environmental assessment report removing operational restrictions.
Cortez Hills has been operating under a tailored injunction granted by the U.S. District Court since April 2010, subject to certain restrictions on ore transportation and dewatering pending completion of the SEIS, which was finalized in January. The Record of Decision removes these restrictions and enables … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Unilife Remains On Schedule

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 01:35 PM PDT

Unilife Corporation (UNIS), a manufacturer of retractable syringes, recently reaffirmed plans to start early-stage production of the Unifill prefilled syringes later in March 2011. The company will then commercially launch the product for its pharma clients by the end of June 2011.   
Earlier in the month, Unilife commissioned the "cleanrooms" at its modern production plant located in York, Pennsylvania. After meeting this regulatory requirement, Unilife is now on the verge of … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

TECO Energy Hikes Dividend Rate

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 01:35 PM PDT

In order to share more profits with its shareholders, the board of directors of energy utility TECO Energy (NYSE:TE) increased the quarterly dividend to 21.5 cents per share from the existing level of 20.5 cents.  This new quarterly dividend will be paid to shareholders in the remaining three quarters of 2011, subject to declaration by the board.
Following the dividend increase, the annualized dividend of TECO Energy will now total 85 cents per share, a 3.7% growth from the preceding … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Forex – EUR/USD Up Toward The End Of U.S. Session

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 01:25 PM PDT

Forex Pros – The Euro was higher against the U.S. Dollar on Thursday.

EUR/USD was trading at 1.4024, up 0.89% at time of writing.

The pair was likely to find support at 1.3856, Tuesday's low, and resistance at 1.4053, today's high.

Meanwhile, the Euro was up against the British Pound and down against the Japanese Yen, with EUR/GBP gaining 0.22% to hit 0.8693 and EUR/JPY falling 0.001% to hit … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Hot Option Plays: Opening Drop & Pop

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 01:18 PM PDT

Cusick’s Corner
With the drop and pop on the open today, the Midday has been chopping in a range, SPX 1270-1275. This has been an emotional couple of days, VIX back down to 26, and the market may be willing to take a rest into the Expiration tomorrow. While headline risk is still very real at this stage, whether the Mid East or Japan, we need to focus on fixed risk positioning, i.e. bull/bear spreads, covered calls, ratios, it will be difficult to outright position long or short. Volume is … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

U.S. Markets Close Higher; Dow Jones Up 1.36%

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 01:10 PM PDT

Forex Pros – U.S. stocks were up after the closing bell on Thursday.

At the close of U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.36%, the S&P 500 index gained 1.29%, while the Nasdaq 100 index climbed 0.95%.

Earlier in the day, official data showed that U.S. Initial Jobless Claims fell more-than-expected to a seasonally adjusted 385.00K last week from 401.00K in the preceding week whose figure was revised up from 397.00K.

Analysts had expected Initial Jobless Claims to fall to … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Honda To Suspend Workers In Mexico

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 12:55 PM PDT

Honda Motor Co. (NYSE:HMC) revealed that it may suspend up to half of its workforce at its manufacturing facility in the Mexico’s Jalisco state. The plant experiences low auto parts inventories due to the earthquake and tsunami in Japan that killed about 10,000 people and damaged roads, ports and bridges.
The plant produces CR-V sports utility vehicle. The decision could affect about 1,100 employees at the facility.
The country imports about $2.5 billion worth of auto parts from Japan each year. … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

PepsiCo Stays Neutral

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 12:55 PM PDT

PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP) is the leading global snack food company and the second largest soft drink company, providing food and beverage products in more than 200 countries. The company's strong new product pipeline, robust international sales, on-going manufacturing productivity initiatives and an active stock program are all positives for PepsiCo.
Domestically, management is implementing multiple initiatives to counter the weak retail environment for carbonated soft drinks (CSDs). In addition … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Contract Win For Excel Maritime

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 12:55 PM PDT

Excel Maritime Carriers, Ltd. (NYSE:EXM), a leading sea-borne transporter for dry bulk cargoes, recently improved and consolidated the time charter contracts for its fleets. One of its vessels called M/V First Endeavour, with a carrying capacity of 69,111 Deadweight tonnages (DWT), will enter into a 1-year time charter agreement. The gross base rate will be $17,500 per day.
With this new time charter deal, Excel Maritime has now secured under time charter employment of 64% of its operating days … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Nissan-Penske Enters A New Deal

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 12:55 PM PDT

Penske Automotive Group Inc. (NYSE:PAG) has been recently awarded the Nissan and Infiniti dealerships in the downtown San Francisco market. The dealership locations, as awarded by Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ:NSANY), is expected to be suitably located in a 195,000 square foot complex, thus representing one of the largest automobile retailing locations in the United States.
The facility, fully renovated and well equipped with state-of-the-art sales, service, and parts operations as well as an on-site … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Caterpillar Redeems Debt

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 12:55 PM PDT

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) has redeemed notes issued earlier by Caterpillar Financial Services, for a total amount of $9.71 million. The company decided to redeem 100% of the remaining amount by exercising the call option. The three notes that the company redeemed have coupon rates of 5.7%, 5.75% and 5.65%, with redemption prices of $5.021 million, $2.391 million and $2.295 million, respectively. All the three notes are maturing on March 15, 2027.
At the same time the company also decided to redeem … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Weatherford Narrows Forecast

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 12:55 PM PDT

The oilfield service provider, Weatherford International Ltd. (NYSE:WFT) revised its earnings forecast for the first quarter of 2011 due to political disruption in North Africa and severe weather conditions in Australia. The company also revised its effective tax rate guidance for full-year 2011.
The Switzerland-based Weatherford lowered its per-share earnings guidance to 18 cents from its prior expectation of 27 cents for first-quarter 2011. In a filing with Securities and Exchange Commission, … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Risk-Reward Balances Staples

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 12:55 PM PDT

Being a leading retailer of office products and services, Staples Inc. (NASDAQ:SPLS) is better positioned than its competitors to sustain its growth momentum based on its margin expansion, effective merchandising, and growth prospects across its retail, delivery and international divisions.
Management now forecasts sales to rise in the low single digits in the first quarter and in the low to mid single digits in fiscal 2011. Staples expects first-quarter 2011 earnings in the range of 30 cents to 32 … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

CA Rides On Cloud Computing

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 12:55 PM PDT

Information technology (IT) management and software product manufacturer CA Technologies (NASDAQ:CA) recently entered into a joint venture (JV) with Unisys Corporation (UIS). The new venture takes the companies' alliance ahead and enables them to offer cloud computing and virtualization services to the end customer.
The JV is expected to combine CA's virtualization and service management products along with Unisys’ virtualization and cloud advisory, planning, design and implementation services. … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Forex – GBP/USD Up During The U.S. Session

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 12:45 PM PDT

Forex Pros – The British Pound was higher against the U.S. Dollar on Thursday.

GBP/USD was trading at 1.6140, up 0.72% at time of writing.

The pair was likely to find support at 1.5979, Tuesday's low, and resistance at 1.6198, Monday's high.

Meanwhile, the British Pound was down against the Euro and up against the Japanese Yen, with EUR/GBP gaining 0.13% to hit 0.8686 and GBP/JPY rising 0.05% to hit … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Regulatory Cut On America Movil

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 12:35 PM PDT

AmericaMovil S.A.B. (NYSE:AMX), the largest telecom carrier in Latin America has been imposed with landline connection charges by the Mexican telecom regulator, Federal Telecommunications Commission. The regulatory body has issued a legal notice to implement a 50% reduction in fees it charges to connect to its fixed line contender Alestra SA, a jointly owned company by AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) and Mexican industrial manufacturer Alfa SAB.
The reduction was set by the commission to settle the … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Core CPI Still Tame

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 12:35 PM PDT

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 0.5% in February, up from a 0.4% increase in both January and December. While that sounds bad, year over year it is up just 2.1%. Looking a little bit deeper, the problem is mostly with energy, and to a lesser extent, food prices.

Energy Prices
Energy prices surged 3.4% on top of a 2.1% increase in January and a 4.0% jump in December. Overall, energy prices are up 11.0% year over year. Actually the increase is even narrower than that, as energy … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Arrow, Samsung Make Deal

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 12:35 PM PDT

Leading electronic parts distributor Arrow Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:ARW) recently announced a global distribution agreement with Samsung Electro-Mechanics.
According to the agreement, Arrow will provide distribution and design-in services for Samsung Electro-Mechanics on a worldwide basis, excluding Korea. The distribution agreement includes Samsung’s broad product offering in the areas of capacitors, resistors, inductors and crystals.
Arrow earlier completed the acquisition of RF, Wireless and … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Family Dollar Fixed At Neutral

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 12:35 PM PDT

Family Dollar Stores Inc.'s (NYSE:FDO) strategic initiatives to improve merchandising, marketing, and store operations have resulted in sustained growth in the top and bottom lines. Management now expects a growth of 8% to 10% in net sales, 5% to 7% in comparable-store sales and 17.6% to 23.3% in earnings per share for fiscal 2011.
We believe there is a tremendous opportunity to increase sales and gross margin through effective price management, cost containment, tighter inventory control, … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Forex – USD/CAD Down In U.S. Trade

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 12:10 PM PDT

Forex Pros – The U.S. Dollar was lower against the Canadian Dollar on Thursday.

USD/CAD was trading at 0.9866, down 0.48% at time of writing.

The pair was likely to find support at 0.9710, Monday's low, and resistance at 0.9974, Tuesday's high.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Dollar was down against the Euro and the British Pound, with EUR/USD gaining 0.78% to hit 1.4009 and GBP/USD rising 0.70% to hit … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

CIGNA On Investors’ Day

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 12:05 PM PDT

On its investors' day, held on March 11, 2011, CIGNA Corp. (NYSE:CI) announced that it expected 2011 earnings from its Health Care and Group Disability and Life segment to be in the range of $800 to $860 million, down from $861 million earned in 2010.
The decline in expectations emanates from accelerated utilization/rebates, adverse claim development, and cost related to strategic investments.  Revenue growth rate is anticipated between high single and low double digit range, and membership … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

The Medicines Company

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 12:05 PM PDT

We recently moved back to a Neutral recommendation on The Medicines Company (NASDAQ:MDCO). The company received a major boost in 2010 regarding its Angiomax patent extension case. The US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) extended the principal patent on Angiomax by a year to August 2011 and has been instructed to treat the patent extension application as having been filed on a timely basis.
While these developments removed a significant overhang from the stock, we believe the positive news regarding … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

HGSI Signs Oncology Deal

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 12:05 PM PDT

Recently, Human Genome Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:HGSI) inked a deal with privately-held FivePrime Therapeutics Inc. to develop and subsequently commercialize a cancer therapy.
The agreement pertains to FivePrime's oncology candidate FP-1039 for treating various cancer forms. The candidate is currently in early-stage development.
The deal, which gives Human Genome exclusive development and commercialization rights in the US, Canada and the European Union, will see Human Genome paying an upfront … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Forex – EUR/USD Up In U.S. Trading Hours

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 11:45 AM PDT

Forex Pros – The Euro was higher against the U.S. Dollar on Thursday.

EUR/USD was trading at 1.4023, up 0.88% at time of writing.

The pair was likely to find support at 1.3856, Tuesday's low, and resistance at 1.4053, today's high.

Meanwhile, the Euro was up against the British Pound and the Japanese Yen, with EUR/GBP gaining 0.13% to hit 0.8685 and EUR/JPY rising 0.21% to hit … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates

Adjusted Jobless Claims Update: Good News

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 11:43 AM PDT

It’s been awhile since I featured this pair of charts above showing: a) the number of jobless claims vs. the size of the U.S. labor force (top chart), and b) jobless claims as a share of the labor force (bottom chart), both updated through February (BLS data here and here). 

The top chart shows why unadjusted jobless claims are meaningless: the size of the U.S. labor force has almost doubled over the last 42 years, from 77.57 million in 1968 to the current level of more than 153 … [visit site to read more] or compare Best Credit Cards and Best CD Rates
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