Good morning. Happy Wednesday.
So the Fed yesterday said they will do everything and anything to stabilize the economy, including printing unimaginable amounts of money. The market was initially volatile but then surged. At today’s open, it’ll give back some of those gains.
30 min before the open, the Nas 100 futures are down 7.75 (0.62%) to trade at 1233.25 and the SPX futures are down 8.75 (0.96%) to trade at 904.25
The Asian/Pacific markets closed mostly up, but they didn’t do as well as you’d expect consider the big rally in the States yesterday. Hong Kong gained 2.2% and Indonesia gained 1.6%. India lost 2.6%. Those are the only noticeable movers.
Europe is currently mixed. France and Germany are down slightly. London is up slightly. Very little overall movement.
BNP Paribas fell 15% today after announcing that its securities unit had a loss of 710 million euros through November.
Deutsche Bank is down 6% after the bank chose to delay refinancing of 1 billion euros of bonds. Citigroup is down 3%.
The Russian central bank today allowed the ruble to drop 1.2%, which was the largest decline in three months and brought the overall decline to 15% since August. The ruble has been under pressure due to low oil prices and capital flight and the Russian central bank is under pressure to allow the ruble to depreciation to preserve reserves.
Apple (AAPL) is down on news Steve Jobs will not be delivering the keynote address at Macworld Expo in Jan.
Adobe (ADBE) rallied 11% in after-hours trading yesterday after reporting earnings at 60 cents a share, which was above the consensus of 57 cents.
General Mills (GIS) fiscal Q2 profits fell 3% which was better than expected.
Honda (HMC) has slashed its profit forecast amid the global slowdown and said managers will take a 10% pay cut.
Yahoo (YHOO) said it will shorten the amount of time that it retains data about its users’ online behavior — including Internet search records — to three months from 13 months and expand the range of data that it “anonymizes” after that period.
Morgan Stanley (MS) posted a wider-than-expected loss on write-downs and investment losses.
Western Digital (WDC) is cutting 2,500 jobs and reducing executive pay in response to weakening demand for its products.
ConAgra’s (CAG) Q2 profit fell 31%, better than expectations.
Cooper Tire (CTB) is closing its plant in Albany, GA; its other 3 plants will stay open.
Newell Rubbermaid (NWL) has slashed Q4 and full-year guidance. They’re cutting 8-10% of salaried workers and issuing a wager and salary freeze.
Abbott (ABT) is paying $175 million to buy the remaining stake in Ibis Biosciences from Isis Pharmaceuticals (ISIS).
CBIZ (CBZ) is buying accounting firm, Tofias’ non-attest business.
Magellan Health (MGLN) sees 2009 profit mostly above current forecasts.
Anglo American (AAUK) has more than halved its planned 2009 capital spending.
Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) plans to cut its workforce another 10% through 2010.
Hovnanian (HOV) reported a Q4 loss that was less than last year’s Q4 loss ($450 million vs. $469 million).
Liz Claiborne (LIZ) has halted its dividend.
Nissan (NSANY) will reduce production in Japan by 78,000 units starting in Jan 2009 and will gradually cut 500 short-term employees during the first quarter.
Silicon Storage Tech (SSTI) raised the top and bottom of the range of its estimated Q4 loss, cut its revenue expectation and plans to cut 17% of its workforce.
Westlake Chemical (WLK) will idle one of its ethylene plants, located at Lake Charles. Lower production, weakened product demand and inventory write downs due to a sharp drop in product prices will hurt fourth-quarter and 2008 results.
Xilinx (XLNX) cut its Q3 sales outlook to reflect sluggish business.
Applied Micro Circuits (AMCC) lowered its revenue forecast for the fiscal Q3 because of weaker-than-expected sales.
Gold is up 0.42% and silver is down 1.16%.
Crude oil is down 35 cents to trade at 43.25.
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| UPGRADES | CDNS, BCE, RAH, KSU, GOL |
| DOWNGRADES | TU, FDRY, MAT, NTY, SAY, MAR, WYN, ROCK, SNV, CPII, TKC, GLW, LYG, AIR, XLNX, CBY, OMG, AAPL, CSL, EXPD, BMI |
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| EARNINGS | |
| before the open | CMC, CAG, GIS, JOYG, LNN, MDZ, MS |
| during trading | none |
| after the close | APOG, HWAY, HEI, MLHR, MU, NKE, NDSN, PAYX, SMSC, SEH, TTWO |
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ECONOMIC RELEASES
10:35 Crude Inventories
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