Good morning. Happy Wednesday.
Despite the strong finish by the US markets yesterday, the world markets did not follow through, and the US cash market is set to give back about half of yesterday’s late-day gains.
In Asia/Pacific, China rallied 6%, but everything else was down. India, Singapore and Seoul each lost more than 1%.
Europe is currently down across the board. Germany, Norway and Stockholm are down more than 3%. Belgium, France, Amsterdam, Switzerland and London are down more than 2%. Everything else is down at least 1%.
Here in the States, 30 minutes before the open, Nas 100 futures are down 25.25 (2.15%) to trade at 1148.75; S&P 500 futures are down 19.5 (2.25%) to trade at 847.0.
UBS is down 4% in Europe – JP Morgan cut its 2009 earnings estimates.
BASF (German company) is temporarily closing 80 plants worldwide due to slumping demand and cut production at 100 others, moves that will affect 20,000 workers. They also abandon their 2008 forecast.
Yesterday was the first time since 1958 the S&P500 dividend yield (3.57%) moved above the 10-year T-note (3.54%)
Detroit CEO’s are scheduled to testify before the House Financial Services committee on their request for a bailout (the testified before the Senate committee yesterday).
Best Buy’s (BBY) credit rating has been lowered by Standard & Poors due to the belief that BBY will be more challenged than previously expected by the current weak economic environment and that credit metrics will deteriorate as a result of a deepening spending pull-back by consumers.
MGM Mirage (MGM) has announced the election of a new chairman and CEO.
Royal Caribbean (RCL) is discontinuing its common stock dividend.
Toyota (TM) is reducing production in the US and cutting about 250 temporary workers at their Georgetown, KY location.
German solar energy company SolarWorld AG said it plans to offer $1.26 billion for some assets of car maker Adam Opel GmbH, the German subsidiary of GM, through cash and credit.
BJ’s Wholesale’s (BJ) Q3 profit rose 24%; the company raised its outlook for the year.
Insituform (INSU) is cutting 35 positions as part of a cost-saving restructuring effort.
Hewlett Packard (HPQ) introduced the company’s first notebook computer with multi-touch technology, promising users the same fingertip navigation built into previous HP desktops and popularized by Apple’s iPhone. (now when will there be a touch screen trading terminal?)
Orbitz (OWW) rating has been cut to negative by Moody’s.
The President and CEO of Savient (SVNT) has resigned.
The chief merchandizing officer of Bebe (BEBE) is leaving the company.
Teva (TEVA) has been granted approval by the US FDA for a generic version of AstraZeneca’s (AZN) child asthma medication.
Restaurant chain Jack in the Box (JBX), which also owns the Qdoba Mexican Grill chain, said Q4 profit was essentially flat and expects its fiscal Q1 profit to fall below its year-ago results due to higher costs and volatile financial markets.
Gold is down 0.37%…silver down 2.50%.
Crude oil is down 49 cents to trade at $53.90.
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| UPGRADES | TTGT, LPX, ED, VECO, UTHR, SAFM, COGT, PSUN |
| DOWNGRADES | SOL, CENX, ARB, SUN |
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| EARNINGS | |
| before the open | BJ, EV, LDK, MENT, ROST, TSL, TWB |
| during trading | none |
| after the close | CYBX, DBRN, EGLT, GYMB, HOTT, INTU, LTD, LDG, MW, PETM, PLNR, SMTC, TK, WGOV |
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ECONOMIC RELEASES
8:30 Building Permits
8:30 Core CPI
8:30 CPI
8:30 Housing Starts
14:00 FOMC Minutes
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