Good morning. Happy Wednesday and Happy early Thanksgiving. Today should be fairly normal the first couple hours, but then volume will die down after lunch. The market is closed tomorrow and is only open a half-day on Friday.
Yesterday presented one of the most obvious no-brainer trades for day-traders we’ve seen in a long time. After two solid up days, the gap up wasn’t going to go unfilled. After it filled, the indexes chopped around and mostly closed up. But today’s open will open the cash market near yesterday’s lows.
30 min before the open, Nas 100 futures are down 5 (0.4%) to trade at 1130.50 and SPX futures are down 14 (1.64%) to trade at 839. Most of these losses have come since 7:30 am ET.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed most up. Seoul rallied almost 5% and Hong Kong, India, Indonesia and Singapore closed up more than 3%. Australia lost 2.68% and Japan fell 1.33%.
China’s central bank today slashed its key one-year lending rate by 108 bp to 5.58%.
Singapore manufacturing plummeted 13 percent in October from a year earlier as demand for the city-state’s electronic and pharmaceutical exports dried up amid the global economic slowdown.
Europe is down across the board. Losses are noticeable. Austria is down 5%, France is down more than 3% and Belgium, Germany, Amsterdam, Switzerland and London are down more than 2%. There are no up markets.
The European Commission wants EU governments to jointly combat the growing economic slowdown with a $256.22 billion stimulus plan to boost growth and confidence among consumers and businesses.
The number of banks in the US categorized as “problem” institutions increased 46% in Q3 to the highest level in 13 years.
Toyota (TM) had its debt rating cut by Fitch Ratings to AA from AAA due to weak US auto sales. The stock is down almost 5% in Tokyo.
Cisco (CSCO) says it plans to close its North American offices for 5 days in order to save $1 billion in costs. It’s an interesting concept. Instead of laying people off, have everyone take 5 days off (unpaid I’m assuming).
Tiffany (TIF) posted better-than-expected Q3 profit but warned of worse-than-expected 2008 results as consumers cut back on spending amid a tough economy. They plan to reduce staffing and trim capital spending.
New jobless claims fell more than expected last week from a 16-year high, the government said Wednesday, though they remain at elevated levels due to the slowing economy. Initial requests for unemployment benefits fell to a seasonally adjusted 529,000 from the previous week’s upwardly revised figure of 543,000. That is lower than analysts’ expectations of 537,000.
Orders to US factories for durable goods plunge by 6.2 percent, biggest decline in 2 years.
Consumer spending falls by 1 percent in October, largest drop since terrorist attacks of 2001.
Discount retailer and pharmacy chain Fred’s (FRED) posted a 32% rise in Q3 profit on lower expenses, despite flat sales. The company reaffirmed its full-year profit outlook.
Landauer (LDR) increases its regular quarterly dividend by 5 percent to 5.25 cents.
Dillard’s (DDS) says Q3 loss widens as weak economy keeps shoppers from department stores.
Canadian telecom company BCE (BCE) said its $35 billion privatization deal may be in jeopardy, as a preliminary review has found the proposed acquisition may not meet solvency requirements.
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration rejected its new-drug application for ceftobiprole, an antibiotic for the treatment of complicated skin and skin-structure infections, including diabetic-foot infections.
Conn’s (CONN), seller of home appliances and consumer electronics, said it lost $7.7 million in its fiscal Q3 partly due to store shut-downs because of hurricanes, credit problems and charges for asset write-downs. The company also said it would not meet its profit targets for the year.
Business analytics firm Fair Isaac (FIC) said its chief financial officer, Charles Osborne, will retire on July 31.
An analyst has cut 2009 profit estimates for Jacobs Engineering (JEC).
Specialty fibers maker Buckeye Technologies (BKI) said it will reduce production at two cotton specialty fiber facilities because of softening demand.
Deere’s (DE) fiscal 4th-quarter profit sinks 18 percent on closing of facility, higher tax rate.
Central Garden & Pet (CENT) said its fiscal fourth-quarter loss widened to $13.9 million as it recorded a $27.8 million charge to write down certain assets.
Steve & Barry’s said Wednesday liquidation sales of its 173 remaining stores across the country are beginning this week and expected to last five to seven weeks, with some stores closing sooner.
Title insurer LandAmerica Financial Group (LFG) said it will file for bankruptcy protection, while competitor Fidelity National Financial (FNF) said it will acquire three of LandAmerica’s subsidiaries.
Gold is down 0.15%…I’m getting a bad quote for silver so I’m not going to post it.
Crude oil is down 44 cents to trade at 51.21.
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| UPGRADES | CKR, ITC, ITRI, RTP, ARII, GOL, HLS |
| DOWNGRADES | DLTR, JCG, LIZ, CPB, EXM, DT, MPW, BHP, OMRI, CBE, CPRT |
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| EARNINGS | |
| before the open | CONN, DE, FRED, SHMR, TIF, YGE |
| during trading | THO |
| after the close | DDS, WEDC, ZOLT |
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ECONOMIC RELEASES
8:30 Durable Orders
8:30 Initial Claims
8:30 Personal Income
8:30 Personal Spending
9:45 Chicago PMI
10:00 Mich Sentiment-Rev.
10:00 New Home Sales
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