Good morning. Happy Monday. Hope you had a nice weekend.
We enter this new week with the market having rallied 5 consecutive days on declining volume with a gap down there near the low. This is not exactly bullish, so although the short term trend is up, being aggressive on the long side is a bad idea. Too bad the market will gap down a bunch at today’s open – that makes playing a pullback harder.
35 minutes before the open, Nas 100 futures are down 26 (2.2%) to trade at 1160 while SPX futures are down 23.25 (2.6%) to trade at.872.
In Asia/Pacific, the markets closed mixed with a downward bias. China, Hong Kong and Taiwan each rallied more than 1%. India and Singapore dropped more than 2% and Australia, Indonesia, Japan and Seoul fell more than 1%.
Europe is currently down across the board. Belgium, Amsterdam and Norway are down more than 3% while Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Stockholm, Switzerland and London are down more than 2%.
The selling pressure in the US began in the middle of the night, so it has more to do with weakness overseas, not news out this morning.
German retail sales in October was down 1.6% month over month.
Germany’s state bank BayernLB plans to cut 5,600 jobs — 29 percent of its total work force — to weather the global financial crisis.
UK home prices have fallen 8.1% year over year.
China’s purchasing managers index fell to a record low in October.
Car sales in Spain plunge 50 percent in November from last year, second worst drop on record.
Budget airline Ryanair (RYAAY) launched a new takeover bid for Aer Lingus, seeking to capitalize on labor unrest at its Irish rival and Ireland’s economic difficulties.
According to BIGresearch, consumer spending over Thanksgiving weekend was up 7.2% year over year and the number of people that visited stores and retail websites increased 17% year over year. Don’t ask how they count the number of people visiting stores; I’ve never seen a turnstile at any front door.
Semiconductor Industry Association says chip sales fell 2.4 percent in October from last year
Citigroup (C) is buying Spanish construction company Sacyr Vallehermoso’s highway-operating unit, Itinere, to in a deal valued at nearly $10 billion. I guess this is what Citi is doing with part of their bailout money. They’re also looking to sell its Japanese trust, NikkoCiti Trust and Banking, estimated to be worth ~ $418 million.
General Growth Properties (GGP) has received a two-week extension on mortgage loans totaling $900 million, as the troubled shopping mall owner works to stave off bankruptcy and negotiate longer-term extensions with lenders.
AIG (AIG) said it has agreed to sell its wealth management arm AIG Private Bank Ltd. to Aabar Investments PJSC of Abu Dhabi. No terms were disclosed.
Health care products company Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) says it will buy the medical products supplier Mentor (MNT) for $1.07 billion in a move to boost its presence in cosmetic and reconstructive medicine.
Parametric Technology (PMTC) said its board of directors doubled the product development software maker’s buyback program.
According to a Wall Street Journal article, Morgan Stanley (MS) could be considering acquiring regional banks that overlap its existing brokerage and asset management clients.
Cell Therapeutics (CTIC) has received FDA priority review for expanded use of cancer drug Zevalin.
Hawaiian Telcom Communications, the largest telephone company on the Hawaiian islands, has filed for Ch. 11 bankruptcy protection.
Moody’s has cut the corporate family rating of Tata Motors (TTM) from Ba2 to B1.
STMicroelectroncis (STM) has cut its Q4 revenue guidance, citing slower billing and reduced demand and order push-outs.
Gold is down 4.17% and silver is down 8.97%.
Crude oil is down 2.85 to trade at 51.58.
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| UPGRADES | TWX, MPW, NOA, HPT, RATE, TOL, ACL, PGI, PRU, AWC |
| DOWNGRADES | DSX, ARA, ADM, HST, CNQ, SU, CPE, BEE, LTD, MTL, ITRN, AER, ACH |
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| EARNINGS | |
| before the open | BE, NRGY, UNCA |
| during trading | none |
| after the close | LTON, SNDA, ZOLT |
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ECONOMIC RELEASES
10:00 Construction Spending
10:00 ISM Index
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