Good morning. Happy Tuesday.
The market rallied into yesterday’s close and will continue the positive sentiment at today’s open.
Futures trading points towards a gap up open for the cash market. 50 minutes before the open, Nas 100 futures are up 8 (0.68%) to trade at 1183.50 while SPX futures are up 4.75 (0.55%) to trade at 875.25.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed mixed with a slight bullish lean. Taiwan rallied almost 4% and Australia, India, Indonesia and Japan moved up more than 1%. China, Hong Kong and Singapore lost ground.
With the exception of Austria, Europe is up across the board. France, Germany, Norway, Switzerland and London are up more than 1%.
Bullish factors for Asian stocks today included (1) the plans by Taiwan’s government to spend $6.1 billion to help key industries through the global financial crisis, (2) the 1.5% rally in South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy as the world’s biggest shipbuilder said sales in November rose 44% to 2.11 trillion won ($1.6 billion) as it built more ships at higher prices, and (3) the 1.2% gain in Sony as the world’s second largest consumer electronics maker said it cut the cost of making the PlayStation3 by 35%. Undercutting Asian stock prices today was (1) South Korea’s industrial output plunging by 14.1% in November y/y, the biggest drop on record and a sign that South Korea’s economy will join Japan, Europe and US in recession, and (2) the prediction from Barclays that Japan’s economy this quarter will contract by 12%, the most in 34 years and almost three times more than the -4.1% q/q decline previously predicted. (barchart.com)
Iron Mountain (IRM) rallied nearly 6% in after-hours trading yesterday as the company was picked to replace UST in the S&P 500 Index.
General Motors (GM) is trading +11% higher in Germany this morning with Ford Motor (F) up +11% as well after the US Treasury late yesterday said it will purchase a $5 billion stake in General Motor’s lending unit, GMAC, and lend $1 billion to GM so the automaker can contribute to the financing arm’s reorganization as a bank holding company.
Hong Kong lawmakers slammed HSBC for helping to sell Lehman Brothers bonds in the Chinese territory, questioning if Europe’s largest bank should have done more to protect local investors from products that may be worthless in the aftermath of the Wall Street firm’s collapse. This is one of those residual effects no one is talking about. The lack of trust that will result from entities peddling worthless junk on the open market.
The Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association predicts auto sales in Japan will fall to 4.86 million in 2009 — the first time below 5 million in more than three decades. This year, sales are projected at 5.11 million, the worst since 1980. Many young are content to ride bikes, skateboards or take public transportation.
UK house prices fell at record annual rate of 12.2 pct in November, government figures show
Chesapeake, the marker of paperboard and plastic packaging, filed for bankruptcy protection, plans sale to investors for $485 million.
A trio of private investors — J.C. Flowers & Co., Dune Capital Management and Paulson & Co. — have teamed up in an effort to buy failed thrift IndyMac, a person familiar with the deal said Monday.
Jakks Pacific (JAKK) completes $28.3 million acquisition of Halloween costume company Disguise.
Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s have downgraded Dow Chemical (DOW) following the news Kuwait will no longer pursue a $17.4 billion joint venture with the company. They may also downgrade Rohm & Hass (ROH).
El Paso (EP) said it will leave the power business in Brazil by selling its stake in the Porto Velho power generation facility for $178 million. The company also said it agreed to sell two nonstrategic natural gas-producing properties, one in northwest New Mexico and the other along the Louisiana/Arkansas border, for a total of about $77 million.
Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) said shareholders voted for changes in the company’s articles of incorporation that allow it to obtain funds from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Troubled Asset Relief Program.
Home and auto insurer Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. will close a $2.48 billion deal on Jan. 1 to buy back the 34% of Nationwide Financial Services (NFS) that it doesn’t currently own.
Weyerhaeuser (WY) said it would stop actively looking for a buyer of its Westwood Shipping Line business, citing tight financial markets and weaker shipping markets.
Gold is down 1.4% and Silver is down 1.4%.
Crude oil is down 59 cents to trade at 39.43.
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| UPGRADES | YUM, AXYS |
| DOWNGRADES | THRM, GHL, EVR |
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| EARNINGS | |
| before the open | none |
| during trading | none |
| after the close | ASHW, SHFL |
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ECONOMIC RELEASES
9:45 Chicago PMI
10:00 Consumer Confidence
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