Good morning. Happy Monday. Hope you had a nice weekend.
It looks like the US market will continue the rally which began Friday afternoon. 30 minutes before the open, Nas 100 futures are up 23.75 (2.18%) to trade at 1114.75, and SPX futures are up 21.25 (2.68%) to trade at 813.25.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed mostly down. China and Seoul lost more than 3%; Singapore lost more than 2%; and Hong Kong and Malaysia lost more than 1%. The Malaysia central bank reduces interest rate to 3.25 percent to boost economy.
Europe is up across the board. Austria, France, Amsterdam, Norway and London are up 4% or more; Germany, Madrid and Stockholm are up more than 3%; and Italy and Switzerland are up more than 2%.
Britain’s Treasury head Alistair Darling will Monday announce plans to raise the top rate of income tax and cut the basic sales tax to help Britain weather the economic downturn, according to media reports.
The big news out this morning centers around Citigroup (C) and the rescue package they are receiving from the US government. They’re getting a $20 billion cash infusion and a guarantee on hundreds of billions of dollars in possible losses. The stock, as you would expect, is up huge (percentage-wise) before the open.
Other banking stocks in Europe and the US are up in sympathy. Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse, JP Morgan and Bank of American are up nicely.
Expectations are for President-elect Obama to introduce his new economic leadership team today as well as roll out his economic vision.
Genentech’s (DNA) Avastin reaches goal in breast cancer study, moves closer to full FDA approval
Cracker Barrel (CBRL) lowered the bottom end of its guidance for the year, due to lower sales expectations. Fiscal Q1 profit fell 8%.
Random House will be digitizing thousands of additional books, citing exploding interest. This news ought to help amazon.com (AMZN).
Exelixis (EXEL) is getting a $20 million milestone payment as Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) has decided to co-develop an experimental cancer drug
Lenox Group (LENX), which makes dinnerware, gifts and collectibles, said Monday it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the latest company to succumb to the weak retail environment.
Diversified health care-products company Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) is paying $438 million for Omrix Biopharmaceuticals (OMRI), in a move to expand its surgical product unit.
Jakks Pacific (JAKK) is purchasing Halloween costume company Disguise for an undisclosed amount.
King Pharmaceuticals (KG) is buying Alpharma (ALO) for $1.6 billion cash.
Xerox (XRX) has guided for 2009 profit below previous estimates but within range of Wall Street projections.
Ampal-American Israel (AMPL) is buying back as much as $20 million of its Class A shares.
Anheuser-Busch InBev plans to raise $8.02 billion to repay some of the debt taken on to fund the merger of the two companies.
As many as 2,444 at ArcelorMittal’s (MT) Burns Harbor, IN plant could be indefinitely furloughed in Jan.
Cooper Industries (CBE) expects Q4 results to be below its previous outlook.
Dillards (DDS) is cutting 500 jobs to reduce costs.
Standard & Poor’s has lowered the corporate credit rating of Foot Locker (FL).
Gold is up 1.48% and silver is up 5.08%.
Crude oil is up 1.35 to trade at 51.29.
—————————————————————————————-
| UPGRADES | STI, AMP, HIBB, JCG, GIS, FTO, TRI, XPRT, PTRY, NYT, CI, DDE, BWLD |
| DOWNGRADES | NSM, LLTC, MXIM, RHI, SAI, CBE, ERIC, PALM, NFS, STP |
—————————————————————————————-
| EARNINGS | |
| before the open | APWR, CPB, CBRL, ITRN, VAL |
| during trading | AHCI |
| after the close | ADI, ATW, CTRN, DCI, HPQ, NUAN, SKIL, UTI |
—————————————————————————————-
ECONOMIC RELEASES
10:00 Existing Home Sales
—————————————————————————————-