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Breaking News | Real-time commentary on the market, with links to key sources.

Market Currents - Real Time Wall Street Breakfast - Top Stories
Wednesday, November 19 2008
Earliest at Top
Page auto-refreshes as new events occur (times are ET)
  • 10:47 AM Core inflation is quickly converging on the Fed's implied target zone of 1-2%, economist Joseph Brusuelas notes. While deflation isn't yet a factor, the Fed will need to be crystal clear about its target "as a way to shape market expectations during its experiment with the quantitative easing policy currently underway." COMMENT!
  • 10:41 AM Petroleum inventories: Crude +1.6M vs. consensus of +1M. Gasoline +0.53M vs. consensus of 0. Distillate -1.47M vs. +0.7M. Crude -0.1% to $54.71. COMMENT!
  • 10:30 AM S&P slaps Ambac (ABK) with a three-notch downgrade on concerns of further losses connected to collateralized-debt obligations. Ambac's rating is now A. Shares -8.8%. COMMENT!
  • 10:27 AM Sector ETF weakness: Solar– TAN -5.9%. Solar– KWT -4.5%. Real Estate– IYR -3.5%. Regional Banks– RKH -2.4%. Clean Energy– PBW -2.1%. COMMENT!
  • 10:27 AM Sector ETF strength: Gold Miners– GDX +7.5%. Gold– GLD +2.8%. Utilities– XLU +2.7%. Agriculture– DBA +2.3%. Pharma– PPH +2.2%. COMMENT!
  • 10:26 AM Fed Vice Chairman Donald Kohn admits he was overconfident the U.S. economy could weather a crumbling housing market, and says this downturn will likely be worse than the past few episodes. (text of speech) COMMENT!
  • 10:22 AM Starting next year, Microsoft (MSFT +1.5%) will begin offering its Morro security software for free download. Winners: consumers sick of paying for anti-malware protection. Losers: viruses, McAfee (MFE -2.1%), Symantec (SYMC -2.7%). COMMENT!
  • 10:14 AM SolarWorld (SRWRF.PK) offers $1.28B for GM's (GM) Opel unit in Germany, with an eye towards creating a green auto firm. There's no indication GM wants to sell, though it could certainly use the cash. SolarWorld -16.4% in Germany. GM -13.9% in the U.S. COMMENT!
  • 10:08 AM Dow laggards: GM -16.8%. JPM -5.8%. C -5.7%. BAC -5.4%. AA -4.7%. COMMENT!
  • 10:08 AM Dow leaders: MCD +1.5%. HPQ +1.5%. KO +1.3%. HD +1.1%. COMMENT!
  • 10:07 AM The gender divide in forecasting: 88% of women see business growth between now and 2013 vs. just 74% of men. COMMENT!
  • 10:03 AM Stocks pop up at the open, then retreat. Dow -0.7%. S&P -0.9%. Nasdaq -0.4%. 1/2 hour down. COMMENT!
  • 9:56 AM Chicken prices are bottoming, JPMorgan notes. With investors propping up share prices and the risk of debt default diminishing, now may be the time to buy chicken processor Sanderson Farms (SAFM +11.6%), whose shares it upgrades. COMMENT!
  • 9:55 AM FDIC's Bair, and plenty of homeowners, are clamoring for modified mortgages. KBW analysts break the bad news: "In a majority of instances loan modifications simply delay the timeline from default to foreclosure but don't prevent them from taking place." COMMENT!
  • 9:45 AM Demand for gold hit an all-time quarterly high in Q3, World Gold Council says, with investment demand leading the way. It blames gold's weak Q3 price performance on hedge fund liquidations to raise cash and meet redemption requests. (ETF: GLD) COMMENT!
  • 9:38 AM Amends made, for now, institutional investors buy up Barclays (BCS) full £500M ($750M) offering of preferred stock. (previously) COMMENT!
  • 9:31 AM Dow is flat at the open at 8425. S&P -0.1% at 858. Nasdaq -0.1% at 1481. COMMENT!
  • 9:24 AM Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) is selling its 20.8% stake in defense-electronics company Thales to Dassault for about €1.5B. "If the worst-case scenario of a long recession comes to pass, the bigger your cash pile, the longer you can hang on," Nomura's Richard Windsor notes. Shares -4.7% premarket. COMMENT!
  • 9:19 AM Futures are lower, but may be misleading because they rose another ~0.6% between their 4:15 close yesterday and the 4:00 close of the stock indexes. Dow futures -1.61% to 8355. S&P -1.64% to 852. Nasdaq -1.81% to 1153. COMMENT!
  • 9:13 AM Zune (MSFT) prices drop down, but not enough to dent iPod (AAPL) sales, says Silicon Alley Insider. Premarket: MSFT -0.9%. COMMENT!
  • 9:12 AM Apple (AAPL) defeats Psystar's antitrust countersuit after a California judge rules brand loyalty doesn't equal monopoly. "Apple asks its customers to purchase Mac OS knowing that it is to be used only with Apple computers," he says. "It is certainly entitled to do so." COMMENT!
  • 9:06 AM As public outcry continues over Wall Street bonuses, UBS (UBS) rolls out 'maluses' for less-than-stellar performers. COMMENT!
  • 9:05 AM Premarket losers: ING -9.3%. LVS -8%. SYT -7%. BCS -6%. GM -5.5%. FSLR -5%. ALU -5%. PBR -5%. BHP -4%. ERIC -4%. RIO -4%. AZN -4%. FCX -4%. GLW -4%. STO -4%. DRYS -4%. UBS -4%. DOW -4%. ASML -4%. AAUK -4% MET -4%. HBC -4%. COMMENT!
  • 9:05 AM Premarket gainers: BT +3.8%. SGR +3.6%. OSIP +2.7%. NOK +2%. UL +2%. COMMENT!
  • 8:57 AM Goldman Sachs adds Research In Motion (RIMM) to its Conviction Buy List with a $68/share target, and believes the stock has already priced in the risk of lowered FY2010 estimates. Shares +1.4% premarket to $47.91. COMMENT!
  • 8:47 AM Ross Stores (ROST): Q3 EPS of $0.44 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $1.6B (+5.9%) in-line. (PR) COMMENT!
  • 8:44 AM Little movement in futures following largely expected inflation (I, II) and housing (I, II) data, reinforcing the notion markets have already factored in a crumbling economy and dead housing market. Dow -1.7%. S&P -1.8%. Nasdaq -1.9%. 1 Comment
  • 8:40 AM Factoring out food and energy, consumer prices (core CPI) fell by 0.1% in October, vs. consensus of +0.1%. Core prices are up 2.2% from a year ago. COMMENT!
  • 8:38 AM Building Permits fell to an annual rate of 708K, far below expectations of 774K. That's 12% lower than September and down 40.1% from a year ago. COMMENT!
  • 8:36 AM Housing Starts come in at 791K for October, 4.5% lower than September's revised 328K and 38% worse than a year ago, the Census Bureau says. Consensus was for an even weaker 780K. COMMENT!
  • 8:33 AM Consumer Prices fell 1% after an unchanged September, the Department of Labor says. Prices are still 3.7% higher than a year ago. Expectations were for an 0.8% monthly drop and Y/Y inflation of 4%. COMMENT!
  • 8:28 AM NY AG Cuomo, who has sharply criticized Wall Street for excessive spending, invites several top financial execs to celebrate his birthday with him - for a $1,000 guest fee, or $10,000-$50,000 dinner fee. Checks are payable to "Andrew Cuomo 2010." 1 Comment
  • 8:22 AM PPI declined for a third straight month yesterday, while today's CPI is expected to fall by 0.8%. Since 1947, coincident PPI/CPI declines have occured only five times, most recently in 2001. Which has Bespoke wondering how only two months ago, the Fed was still fretting "upside risks to inflation." COMMENT!
  • 8:22 AM Mentor Graphics (MENT): Q3 EPS of -$0.04 in-line. Revenue of $185M (-2.9%) vs. $190M. Shares +8.3% premarket. (PR) COMMENT!
  • 8:13 AM Bank of England policymakers considered reducing interest rates in excess of 200 BPs before unanimously deciding on a 'milder' 1.5% cut, minutes (.pdf) reveal - raising expectations of another 100 BPs cut to 2% next month. Sterling (ETF: FXB) is up 0.9% to $1.5038. COMMENT!
  • 8:01 AM Customers withdrew $62.7B from hedge funds last month, as funds are down an average of 12% YTD. The most recent victim is Citigroup's (C) Corporate Special Opportunities hedge fund, which is being liquidated after losing 53% of its value last month. COMMENT!
  • 7:46 AM Bonds soar again in overnight trade. 30-year +0.91%. 10-year +0.51%. 5-year +0.18%. 2-year +0.01%. COMMENT!
  • 7:33 AM BJ's Wholesale Club (BJ): Q3 EPS of $0.49 beats by $0.03. Revenue of $2.46B (+13.4%) in-line. (PR) COMMENT!
  • 7:29 AM The MBA mortgage application index was dragged lower by applications for home mortgages, which fell 12.6% to an 8-year low. Refinancing applications edged higher. COMMENT!
  • 7:23 AM The Justice Department investigates Medtronic (MDT) for off-label use of its bone growth implant. CEO William Hawkins says the probe caps a 'perfect storm' of suppressed sales. COMMENT!
  • 7:22 AM Sources say Boeing (BA) will delay the delivery date for all 3,734 airplanes in its order backlog by as much as ten weeks. COMMENT!
  • 7:21 AM Mortgage applications decreased 6.2% from a week ago, MBA says, on a seasonally adjusted basis. The average interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 6.16% from 6.24%. COMMENT!
  • 7:21 AM "We, as an industry, may end up with possibly the highest credit card losses the industry has ever experienced," warns BoA (BAC) CEO Kenneth Lewis.
    COMMENT!
  • 7:20 AM "The liquidity crisis in the financial world is over," says Nomura Holdings' (NMR) Kenichi Watanabe. Now, "the next step is how to rebuild the real economy." COMMENT!
  • 7:19 AM Citigroup (C) will liquidate its Corporate Special Opportunities (CSO) hedge fund after it lost 53% of its value last month. Investors in CSO, which managed nearly $4.2B at its peak, will likely receive no more than ten cents on the dollar. COMMENT!
  • 7:19 AM Rumors swirl on who might be the next Yahoo (YHOO) CEO. Possibilities include: former Yahoo execs Ellen Siminoff and Dan Rosensweig, News Corp. (NWS) Pres. Peter Chernin and former eBay (EBAY) chief Meg Whitman. More here and here. COMMENT!
  • 7:17 AM In a new twist on corporate crossover, P&G (PG) and Google (GOOG) temporarily swap some employees. P&G wants to learn more about internet advertising, while Google wants to secure a bigger portion of P&G's $8.7B annual ad budget. COMMENT!
  • 7:14 AM Toyota (TM) cuts its China sales forecast by 14.3% to 600K. Domestically, Toyota said today it will close all of its North American factories for two days next month. Shares were unchanged in Tokyo. COMMENT!
  • 7:14 AM LDK Solar (LDK): Q3 EPS of $0.77 beats by $0.06. Revenue of $542M (+241.4%) vs. $487M. (PR) COMMENT!
  • 7:00 AM U.S. futures reflect overseas weakness, ignoring Tuesday's strong finish. Dow -1.2% to 8390. S&P -1.3% to 855. Nasdaq -1.6% to 1155. January crude -0.4% to $54.55. Gold +0.5% to $736.40. COMMENT!
  • 7:00 AM In Europe, bank stocks are once again leading markets lower. London -2%. Paris -1.4%. Frankfurt -1.4%. COMMENT!
  • 7:00 AM Shanghai soared Wednesday, with Sinopec (SNP +10%) leading the way on news China will move ahead with its plans for a fuel tax that is seen as closing the gap between domestic and international oil prices. Elsewhere in Asia markets ticked lower. Nikkei -0.66% to 8,273. Hang Seng -0.77% to 12,816. Shanghai +6.05% to 2,017. BSE -1.83% to 8,774. COMMENT!
  • 6:53 AM CEOs from leading U.S. companies (including INTC, GOOG, TWX, FDX) call for a fiscal stimulus package of at least $300B to support short term consumer spending. The execs say the stimulus should be the top priority for President-elect Obama. COMMENT!
  • 6:50 AM Automakers in China and Europe, taking a cue from their U.S. counterparts, request government aid as sales continue to tumble. COMMENT!
  • 6:08 AM Trina Solar (TSL): Q3 EPS of $1.34 beats by $0.13. Revenue of $291M (+252.1%) vs. $277M. (PR) COMMENT!
  • 5:47 AM Earnings previews for companies reporting early this morning: BJ, ROST COMMENT!
  • 5:28 AM Accrued Interest: How the changing nature of leverage impacts the bond market. COMMENT!
  • 4:52 AM With oil falling hard, is it time to raise the gas tax? COMMENT!
  • 4:49 AM Harvard's Greg Mankiw finds expected returns from stocks, based on current P/E, are about 6%. COMMENT!
  • 3:45 AM NYT's Saul Hansell believes what Yahoo really needs isn't a CEO as much as an editor-in-chief: "the sort of imperial editor who has a vision of how to create an environment that lures in both readers and advertisers: Tina Brown, Clay Felker, Adam Moss." COMMENT!
  • 2:27 AM Asian markets: Nikkei -0.7%. Hang Seng +0.7%. Shanghai +6.3%. BSE +2.4%. COMMENT!
  • 12:10 AM Notable earnings after Wednesday's close: INTU, LTD, MW, PETM, SMTC COMMENT!
  • 12:05 AM Notable earnings before Wednesday's open: BJ, LDK, MENT, ROST, TSL COMMENT!
  • 12:00 AM Wednesday's economic calendar:
    7:00 MBA Mortgage Applications
    8:30 Consumer Price Index
    8:30 Housing Starts
    9:10 Fed's Donald Kohn speaks on the subprime crisis
    10:35 EIA Petroleum Status
    1:30 PM Fed's Jeffrey Lacker speaks on the subprime crisis
    2:00 PM FOMC Minutes COMMENT!