Was surprised to see eBay did not take more of a beating after the Senate Internet Tax bill.

Yeah, always something out here.

I find it funny how the media is backing the 'Syrian government is using chemical wepaons' even if there is no proof. I mean, they gave 'ol GB the benefit of the doubt too. (Sarcasm dripping)

Isn't Zero the Peace President?

Ah, nice to see nothing changing. Futures red overnight, and then turn green by early morning, to head to NEW HIGHS by end of day. Tomorrow we rinse and repeat.

Good morning EZ. Yep, I knew it, YOU got the billion dollars.

Hey there Ske. Hope tonight is OUR night!

Ummmmm......



But I get your point, and I agree.

GLD - thinking with the market just going UP UP UP, we will see more selling here, would look at $135 puts for June if the price is right.

Man, what a wacky story that is. God bless that those women were saved and are ok. There are a LOT of sick bastards out there that need to be culled from the herd.

Where is MADROSE when you need him? THis is one of his babies, where the double top is played to perfection. Will it continue, or was yesterday just a blip towards more upward momentum? If it continues down, would look for the bounce off of $440 to continue up.

BBRY with 30% short interest. SO many darn rumors and opinions about this sucker, one day it will make a decision as to which way it is going to go, and go there hard and fast. I would think $20 before $10.

Earnings before the bell: $AOL $FUN $CTSH $LAMR $LINTA $SODA $WEN

Soda at short interest of 40%!!

And I see the futures have perked up while I went to smoke up a cigar. Looks like no down days EVER AGAIN in the market.

LOL, reminds me of the old joke:

WANTED: Single woman with boat and motor

Send picture of boat and motor

STUFF!! What are you doing up so early? Just back from lunch, was going to post a status (FUTURES ARE FLAT) and smoke up a cigar with the old man, but you are here, so I will smoke one up and be back shortly.

GOOD MORNING!

Most European Stocks Rise as ING Earnings Beat Estimates

By Namitha Jagadeesh - May 8, 2013


Most European stocks climbed, after the Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose yesterday to its highest since June 2008, as companies from ING Groep NV (INGA) to Deutsche Telekom AG (DTE) posted quarterly earnings that beat estimates. U.S. index futures were little changed, while Asian shares gained.

ING jumped 3.4 percent and Deutsche Telekom added 2.1 percent. Delhaize Group SA advanced 3 percent after saying its chief executive officer will step down by the end of this year. Telefonica SA lost 1.8 percent after Spain’s largest phone company posted earnings that missed analysts’ estimates.

The Stoxx 600 climbed 0.2 percent to 302.36 at 8:29 a.m. in London as five stocks advanced for every two that retreated. The equity benchmark rallied yesterday to its highest level since June 2008 amid better-than-expected corporate earnings, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) closed above 15,000 for the first time. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slipped less than 0.1 percent, while the MSCI Asia Pacific Index surged 0.9 percent.

“A strong finish in the U.S. and a surge in Chinese trade growth is likely to keep the bulls ticking over,” Jonathan Sudaria, a trader at Capital Spreads in London, wrote in a note. “Unlike previous rallies to all-time highs, the bulls still appear a long way off from irrational exuberance. Whilst overt bullishness marked the top in 2007, the lack of it in 2013 may point towards higher prices.”

China’s Exports

In China, a report from the General Administration of Customs showed that exports rose 14.7 percent in April. That exceeded the 9.2 percent median forecast of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Imports (CNFRIMPY) climbed 16.8 percent, compared with the average projection of 13 percent. The trade surplus for the world’s second-largest economy widened to $18.2 billion.

MORE - http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-08/european-stock-futures-little-changed-amid-ing-earnings.html

Cohiba holdings thus far:

BAC and XLF Puts.....LOSERS! Holding until the end.

CALL $17.50 calls great so far! In at .55, currently .95, hoping for beat to earnings tomorrow for short squeeze. Will sell some Thursday hopefully for a bit over $1.

DVAX - Still have July 2.50 calls @.20, waiting for positive FDA news in June.

HEK - Got June 3.50 calls at .15, currenbtly at .20 waiting for earnings tonight and hoping for short squeeze.

Who won the $1.7 bln settlement between BofA and MBIA? Source: http://stks.co/sBf5

MBA: Fed will taper off QE this fall, stop purchases by 2014 Source: http://stks.co/rBe2

Pound Falls Second Day Against Euro as U.K. Retail Sales Decline

By Lukanyo Mnyanda - May 8, 2013


The pound weakened for a second day versus the euro after an industry report showed a gauge of U.K. retail sales unexpectedly declined last month.

Sterling was little changed against the dollar. Sales at stores open at least 12 months, measured by value, dropped 2.2 percent in April from a year earlier, the British Retail Consortium said. The median forecast of analysts in a Bloomberg survey was for an increase of 1.9 percent. The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee starts a two-day meeting today.

The pound depreciated 0.2 percent to 84.64 pence per euro as of 7:39 a.m. London time, after weakening 0.4 percent yesterday. Sterling traded at $1.5491. It reached $1.5606 on May 1, the strongest since Feb. 13.

A separate report is forecast to show U.K. house prices increased in April. Home values rose 0.2 percent from March, Halifax, the mortgage unit of Lloyds Banking Group Plc will say today, according to the median forecast of 11 economists in a Bloomberg News survey.

The U.K. currency has appreciated 1.9 percent in the past month, the best performer among 10 developed-market currencies tracked by Bloomberg Correlation-Weighted Indexes. The dollar rose 0.2 percent, while the euro gained 1.1 percent.

The Debt Management Office is scheduled to sell 1.1 billion pounds of inflation-linked gilts maturing in 2044 today. The U.K. last sold the securities on March 21 at a so-called real yield of minus 0.033 percent, the lowest on record, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Gilts returned 1 percent this year through yesterday, according to indexes compiled by Bloomberg and the European Federation of Financial Analysts Societies. German bonds gained 0.5 percent and Treasuries earned 0.4 percent.

To contact the reporter on this story: Lukanyo Mnyanda in Edinburgh at lmnyanda@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Dobson at pdobson2@bloomberg.net

Wow, wish I played ARUN puts instead of those dopey BAC puts.

Did you get those calls? $60 looks like the next logical target. COH of the $56s would have been nice for calls as well.

I wish I could change service out here......SUCKS! Yet again we were down, and will be again tonight as they fix some sort of fiber mess. The fast seervice out here is $90 a month, and it is SLOW since the bandwidth is shared amongst thousands. I went to the $65 a month service and really can't tell the difference between the slower service over the 'faster' service since it all just sucks anyway. Really can't wait to get home to my cable internet.

I guess she never will......so long as $50 a month keeps going into my Paypal account!

Sorry Stuff, need to check out, and then I got some damn conference calls with the states before heading to dinner. Hoping the damn internet is fixed when I get back to room. If it is, you will see me later.

SPY over $162. Just keeps on keeping on.

Ooops. All these great results, and then ARUN comes in with a FLOP. That is gonna hurt.

Wow! That will probably move others like KORS and COH.

Short Covering to Drive Tesla ($TSLA) Higher - Jefferies http://stks.co/cT9o

42% short interest!! This is what I am hoping for CALL any day now.

Yep, my guess is that most of the mortgage market moves up with those numbers, will also confirm the housing 'recovery' mantra we have been hearing a lot about lately. WOuld think it tops $40 by next week.

Wow, those are good numbers all over! Those are few and far between.

German March factory orders rise 2.2% vs estimated 0.5% drop

This should make us move up today, all is good now.

Looks like their REVS need a few extra supplements.

LNKD. This overbloated PIG comes out with crappy earnings and it STILL manages to only drop a tad, and now looks like it may bounce off support and just keep on trucking.

And GOOD MORNING EZ.

Hey! It's....BUNNY!

So THAT is how they are doing it! Thanks Stuff, lol.

Hard call there. LOOKS like a top all over the place, but todays top can be next months low. I am trimming my DRIP account on any of my high flyers right now, and putting more into my low ballers.

Good morning Ske! Hope all is bright and sunny out there. My mom told me New York was getting real nice, so now she is out and about hiking in the woods with her dopey dogs.

And this may just be me, but I am REALLY getting sick and tired with all these articles about stocks going up due to the 'improving world economies' and such. What the heck are they talking about? Unemployment is HUGE all over in the Eurozone, and still sucks here, production is going down, money is being held by the banks, new bubbles popping up, etc... Where is this great economic recovery I keep reding about?

Going to be interesting with the online tax bill and where that goes now that the Senate has passed it. That is going to shake a LOT of foundations out there. ZH had a nice post about it.

Though down a tad today, OIL has been slowly creeping back up into the zone where it messes up this great economic 'recovery' we are having out here. It must be a great recovery, as EPS is getting beat (Even though way off from previous, and with missed revs) the market is up, and Obama SAYS we are recovering.