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Earnings Preview for the week of February 18 - 21
Tuesday:
Pre Market - KO, DUK, MDT, WM, GPC, NI, GEL, FDP, XRAY, WWW
After Hours - FLR, CYH, TEx, NBR, FLS, HLF, CF, HE, OII, PNRA, LZB, PBPB,
Wednesday:
Pre Market - DVN, MGM, SAH, TX, OCR, HST, SUNE, LAD, CG, HCN, GRMN, WAB, CNK, LL, SIX
After Hours - ETE, SWY, ETP, MAR, SXL, CAR, WMB, WPZ, ESV, TRN, ARRS, CW, OIS, HY, TSLA,
Thursday:
Pre Market - WMT, DTV, ACT, PEG, TRP, RS, HRL, CVI, CVRR, PWR, FDML, DAN, SCG, PDCO, HSNI, WLK, THI, CCO, I, HSC, DNR
After Hours - HPQ, ESRX, JWN, AGU, TS, NEM, PPC, MHK, PCLN, MRC, KND, MRVL, VMI, INTU, SEM, GRPN, PSA, MDRX, ARUN
Friday:
Pre Market - DISH, ECL, CHTR, AEE, BCC, SATS, PNW, DCI, STRZA
TRADER RADAR ECONOMIC and EARNINGS FOR 2/17 to 2/21
Monday, February 17
US Economics (Time Zone: EST)
US markets closed for Presidents Day holiday
11:00 Fed to purchase $1b-$1.5b bonds in 23 to 30-year range
Global Economics (Time Zone: GMT)
JPY GDP (4Q preliminary)
JPY 2014 Monetary Base Target
04:30 JPY Industrial Production
Earnings
No reports
Tuesday, February 18
US Economics (Time Zone: EST)
08:30 Empire Manufacturing – expected 9, prior 12.51
09:00 Net Long-term TIC Flows – exp $30B, prior -$29.3B
09:00 Total Net TIC Flows – prior -$16.6B
10:00 NAHB Housing Market Index – exp 56, prior 56
11:00 Fed to purchase $3.75b-$4.5b notes in 4 to 5-year range
11:30 Treasury selling $30b 3-month, $30b 6-month bills
Global Economics (Time Zone: GMT)
07:00 EUR EU Car Registrations
09:30 GBP CPI
10:00 EUR German ZEW Economic Sentiment survey
Earnings
Before:
Duke Energy (DUK)
Medtronic (MDT)
Coca-Cola (KO)
After:
Panera Bread (PNRA)
Flowserve (FLS)
CF Industries (CF)
Wednesday, February 19
US Economics (Time Zone: EST)
07:00 MBA Mortgage Applications
08:30 PPI Final Demand YoY (new version of PPI) – expected 1.2%, prior 1.1%
08:30 PPI Ex Food & Energy YoY – exp 1.4%, prior 1.1%
08:30 Housing Starts – exp 950K, prior 999K
08:30 Building Permits – exp 977K, prior 986K
2:00 FOMC Minutes
11:00 Fed buying $1b-$1.25b notes in 23 to 30-year range
11:30 Treasury selling 4-week bills
Fedspeak
12:15pm Lockhart speaks on economy in Georgia
1:00pm Bullard speaks in Washington
7:00pm Williams speaks on economy in NY
Global Economics (Time Zone: GMT)
04:30 JPY All Industry Activity Index
09:30 GBP BoE Minutes
09:30 GBP ILO Unemployment Rate
Earnings
Before:
MGM Resorts (MGM)
Six Flags Entertainment (SIX)
Carlyle Group (CG)
Devon Energy (DVN)
After:
Marriott (MAR)
Avis Budget (CAR)
HomeAway (AWAY)
Goodrich Petroleum (GDP)
Safeway (SWY)
Tesla (TSLA)
LifeLock (LOCK)
Thursday, February 20
US Economics (Time Zone: EST)
08:30 Initial Jobless Claims – expected 330K, prior 326K
08:30 Continuing Claims – exp 3025K, prior 3056K
08:30 Consumer Price Index YoY – exp 1.6%, prior 1.5%
08:30 CPI Ex Food & Energy YoY – exp 1.6%, prior 1.7%
08:58 Markit Preliminary US PMI – exp 53.6
10:00 Philly Fed – exp 8.5, prior 9.4
10:00 Leading Index – exp 0.4%, prior 0.1%
11:00 Fed buying $1b-$1.5b bonds in 23 to 30-year range
1:00 Treasury selling $9b 30yr TIPS (reopening)
Global Economics (Time Zone: GMT)
JPY Japanese Investors Purchases of Foreign Bonds/Stocks
JPY Trade Balance
01:45 CNY HSBC/Markit Flash Manufacturing PMI (Feb)
09:00 EUR Manufacturing & Services PMI (Feb preliminary)
15:00 EUR Eurozone Consumer Confidence
Earnings
Before:
Walter Energy (WLT)
Wal-Mart (WMT)
After:
Nordstrom (JWN)
Priceline.com (PCLN)
Aruba Networks (ARUN)
Hewlett-Packard (HPQ)
Newmont Mining (NEM)
Express Scripts (EXPR)
Rocket Fuel (FUEL)
Cabot Oil & Gas (COG)
DIRECTV (DTV)
Groupon (GRPN)
Friday, February 21
US Economics (Time Zone: EST)
10:00 Existing Home Sales – expected 4.70M, prior 4.87M
11:00 Fed buying $1b-$1.25b bonds in 23 to 30-year range
Fedspeak
1:10pm Bullard speaks on economy in St Louis
Global Economics (Time Zone: GMT)
JPY BoJ Jan meeting minutes
09:30 GBP Retail Sales
09:30 GBP Govt Finances
13:30 CAD Retail Sales
13:30 CAD CPI
Earnings
Before:
Charter Communications (CHTR)
DISH Network (DISH)
I don't see the button to tweet a message anymore?
Happy Valentine's Day!!!!
Frontrunning:
Euro-Area Growth Eases Pressure on Draghi for Stimulus (BBG)
Germany Beats Growth Estimates With France Amid Recovery (BBG)
Argentina revises ‘bogus’ inflation figures (FT)
Wells Fargo edges back into subprime as U.S. mortgage market thaws (Reuters)
China Banks’ Bad Loans Reach Highest Since Financial Crisis (BBG)
Time Warner Cable Deal to Test Comcast CEO's Washington Clout (WSJ)
Risky Loans in Europe Banks’ Dark Corners to Be Exposed (BBG) - yeah, right... sure
Gold Extends Climb Above $1,300 as Investors Boost SPDR Holdings (BBG)
SEC Takes Steps to Stem Courtroom Defeats (WSJ)
Treading softly, Thai riot police reclaim Bangkok protest sitea (Reuters)
Topix Index Tumbles as Yen Rises, Consumer Lenders Slide (BBG)
Taliban Take Toll on Pakistan's Biggest City (WSJ)
Chinese Join Winklevosses in L.A. Luxury Home Hedges (BBG)
World’s Biggest Sovereign Fund Needs to Add Risk (BBG)
Overnight Media Digest
WSJ
* Now that Comcast Corp has sealed a deal to buy Time Warner Cable Inc for $45.2 billion in stock, its top executives face a new challenge: clearing formidable regulatory hurdles. The government review is likely to be lengthy and could touch on everything from cable prices to the way web traffic is prioritized.
* Americans cut spending last month on a broad swath of retail goods including cars, furniture and clothing, raising fresh doubts about the economy's ability to gain speed this year.
* BNP Paribas SA France's largest listed bank, is in talks to settle U.S. investigations of money laundering and sanctions violations in countries including Iran and Cuba, according to people familiar with negotiations.
* China's inflation remained tepid in January, but economists said that the country's central bank still has little room to ease monetary policy as concerns over growing debt overshadow slowing economic growth.
* Brookstone Inc, known for its wide array of consumer gadgets such as massage chairs and travel electronics, is contemplating a possible bankruptcy-protection filing in the coming weeks as talks advance with potential buyers, people familiar with the matter said.
* PepsiCo Inc is throwing a bone to investors after deciding it will keep trying to turn around slumping soft-drink sales instead of taking more drastic action, such as splitting up.
* Avon Products Inc said it might need to pay as much as $132 million to settle a federal bribery probe, significantly increasing its estimates for the cost of resolving the yearslong investigation into its past conduct in China and other countries.
* Boeing Co is planning new marketing tactics to extend sales of its leading long-range jet for several more years until a new version is ready, the company's top salesman said.
* South Korea has addressed U.S. concerns about letting a Chinese telecommunications company develop the country's advanced wireless network by agreeing to route sensitive U.S. and South Korean communications over separate networks, U.S. officials said.
* Cabela's Inc, an outdoor-gear retailer, cited a slide in sales of guns and ammunition when it reported Thursday a decline in fourth-quarter sales, excluding newly opened or closed stores.
NYT
* Comcast Corp's proposed acquisition of Time Warner Cable Inc comes at a moment of seismic change in the television industry, with consumers increasingly cutting their cable cords and instead streaming their favorite shows via the Internet.
* The Ivanpah solar power plant stretches over more than five square miles of the Mojave Desert with an ability to energize 140,000 homes. The plant, the first electric generator of its kind, could also be the last. Since the project began, the price of rival technologies has plummeted, incentives have begun to disappear and the appetite among investors for mammoth solar farms has waned.
* Paris-based BNP Paribas's fourth-quarter profit fell 76 percent as it set aside $1.1 billion to settle charges it violated economic sanctions.
* Big banks operating in London are adhering to the European Union's rules on banking bonuses by revamping the way they pay top employees so they still receive the extra money.
* The Bridgestone Corp became the latest automotive supplier to plead guilty to charges of conspiring to fix the prices of parts sold to automakers here and abroad, the justice department said on Thursday. The world's largest producer of tires and rubber also agreed to pay a $425 million criminal fine.
* A 120-car Norfolk Southern train carrying heavy Canadian crude oil derailed and spilled in western Pennsylvania on Thursday, adding to a string of recent accidents that have prompted calls for stronger safety standards.
* General Motors Co is recalling about 619,000 small cars in the United States because either a heavy key ring or a "jarring event" such as running off the road could cause the ignition to shut off and possibly prevent the air bags from deploying in a crash, the automaker said.
* People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has scored again in its fight against the use of primates in advertising, as Volkswagen of America agreed to abide by a no-primates policy and withdrew a video clip from online platforms that had served as a teaser for the company's commercial during Super Bowl XLVIII on Feb. 2.
* Apple Inc in a report on Thursday said its hardware factories did not use any tantalum, a metal commonly used in electronics, from areas engaged in warfare.
* PepsiCo Inc said on Thursday that it had decided not to spin off its North American beverage business, effectively rejecting a push by the activist investor Nelson Peltz.
* Fortress Investment Group Llc, the first publicly listed hedge fund in the United States, has bought back its 12 percent stake from Nomura Holdings, one of its principal investors for $363.4 million.
* A growing number of primary care doctors and specialists in private practice are becoming employees of hospitals, though experts caution that the change may not yield better or cheaper care for patients.
Canada
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
* More than 40 First Nations or aboriginal groups in Canada have applied to participate in National Energy Board hearings into Kinder Morgan Energy Partners' proposed twinning of the Trans Mountain pipeline. The applications, say First Nation representatives, is a signal of how Canada has changed since the pipeline was first built across British Columbia 61 years ago.
* Under one of the roughest winters in the Upper Midwest region, the Great Lakes had become almost completely covered with ice. The last time they came this close was in 1994, when 94 percent of the lakes' surface was frozen.
Reports in the business section:
* Bombardier Inc raised its C Series cost estimate by more than $1 billion and forecast weaker profit margins this year, prompting concerns about the company's finances as it struggles with development delays and uncertain demand for aircraft.
NATIONAL POST
* Quebec's national assembly is set to begin final adoption next week of a law that will legalize euthanasia in the province, making it the first jurisdiction in North America to allow physicians to deliberately end patients' lives. Meanwhile, the province's College of Physicians is already envisaging a day when some of the bill's restrictions on euthanasia will need to be loosened.
* Fertility specialists are calling for minimum qualifications for doctors offering assisted baby-making procedures like in-vitro fertilization, saying some people are being treated by doctors who don't have the proper training to perform the procedures.
FINANCIAL POST
* The Canadian low-cost carrier, WestJet Airlines Ltd plans to unveil the details of a new in-flight entertainment system on Friday that aims to wirelessly stream stored content and live TV as well as provide WiFi connectivity to its guests.
* The Quebec government is taking control of oil exploration on remote Anticosti, striking joint venture deals with all oil and gas companies holding permits on the island in exchange for funding their drilling programs.
China
CHINA SECURITIES JOURNAL
- Hundreds of companies waiting for IPOs are preparing annual reports and other documents for an official submission to the securities regulator, sources said.
CHINA BUSINESS NEWS
- China Telecom Corp Ltd said it will start 4G service from Friday, the second Chinese telecom operator to provide the service after China Mobile Ltd.
SHANGHAI SECURITIES NEWS
- China Orient Asset Management Corp, a state-owned asset manager specialising in bad debt, plans to list by the end of 2015 if the company's reform plan is approved in the first half of this year, its president said.
- Competition among China's state-owned companies is intensifying in the country's capital market as they step up efforts to lure investors amid the ongoing ownership reform in the sector.
CHINA DAILY
- China welcomes U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's visit to Beijing but his visit would not result in substantially boosting ties between the two countries unless he takes the "correct" approach to the sovereignty dispute in East and South China Seas, said an editorial.
PEOPLE'S DAILY
- China should set freedom, equality, justice and rule of the law as the common value to provide constant momentum for the market economy and create moral integrity in society, the paper said in an editorial.
Britain
The Guardian
LLOYDS BANKING GROUP CHIEF ANTONIO HORTA-OSORIO GETS 1.7 MLN STG BONUS
Lloyds Banking Group has awarded Chief Executive Antonio Horta-Osorio a 1.7 million pound ($2.83 million) bonus after declaring itself "a normal bank" five years after its bailout.
ROLLS-ROYCE WARNS DEFENCE CUTS TO TAKE TOLL ON 2014 REVENUES AND PROFITS
Rolls-Royce has become the latest major UK company to warn on profits as the industrial group called an end to a decade of revenue growth and wiped more than 3 billion pounds off its share price.
SHELL TO SELL THREE NORTH SEA OIL ASSETS
Shell is to sell off three oil and gas producing assets in the North Sea as the new chief executive's divestment gathers pace. The disposal of the Anasuria, Nelson and Sean platforms and production systems come at a sensitive political time when other energy bosses have signalled that the forthcoming referendum on Scottish independence is undermining the investment climate.
The Times
EX-BOSS OF LLOYDS FACES LOSING BONUS OVER INSURANCE SCANDAL
The former chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group, Eric Daniels, is facing the confiscation of a past bonus over the escalating insurance mis-selling bill, which sent the bank to an after-tax loss of 802 million pounds last year.
HOMESERVE FINED 30.6 MLN STG FOR YEARS OF MIS-SELLING
The board of directors of HomeServe's British division consistently failed to address regulatory and compliance problems in the run-up to its damaging mis-selling scandal, the City regulator said yesterday as it handed the insurer a record fine.
NUCLEAR OVERHAUL WARMS EDF PROFITS
EDF Energy's UK profits have been charged after the French company spent heavily to improve the performance of its eight nuclear power stations in Britain.
The Independent
Tate & Lyle profit warning prompts Chinese takeover speculation
Shares in Tate & Lyle crashed 16 percent in early trading after the sweetener-maker warned on profits, triggering City speculation of a potential Chinese takeover bid.
FCA STUDY WILL TACKLE THE ANNUITIES 'MINEFIELD'
The annuities market is not working for consumers, Britain's Financial Conduct Authority has concluded after an extensive review.
Fly On The Wall 7:00 AM Market Snapshot
ECONOMIC REPORTS
Import and Export Prices at 8:30 a.m. ET
Industrial Production at 9:15 a.m. ET
Consumer Sentiment at 9:55 a.m. ET
ANALYST RESEARCH
Upgrades
Cabot (CBT) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan
Comerica (CMA) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup
Corrections Corp. (CXW) upgraded to Buy from Fair Value at CRT Capital
Discover (DFS) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies
Discovery (DISCA) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Guggenheim
EastGroup Properties (EGP) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Stifel
Grainger (GWW) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at RW Baird
Home Bancshares (HOMB) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Wunderlich
Huntsman (HUN) upgraded to Neutral from Reduce at SunTrust
Lloyds Banking (LYG) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan
LogMeln (LOGM) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Needham
PetroQuest (PQ) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at FBR Capital
Progressive Waste (BIN) upgraded to Strong Buy from Outperform at Raymond James
Rolls-Royce (RYCEY) upgraded to Hold from Sell at Societe Generale
Societe Generale (SCGLY) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS
Starwood Hotels (HOT) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS
Stratasys (SSYS) upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at William Blair
TreeHouse Foods (THS) upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Credit Suisse
Zions Bancorp (ZION) upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman
Downgrades
ATK (ATK) downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Cowen
Aeropostale (ARO) downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at BMO Capital
Agnico-Eagle (AEM) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Canaccord
Agnico-Eagle (AEM) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS
Cadence (CADX) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Guggenheim
CafePress (PRSS) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Cantor
Cenovus Energy (CVE) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Canaccord
ClearBridge American (CBA) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at BofA/Merrill
DISH (DISH) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup
Ducommun (DCO) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Canaccord
EQT Midstream Partners (EQM) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse
Foster Wheeler (FWLT) downgraded to Hold from Buy at BB&T
Foster Wheeler (FWLT) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Macquarie
Manchester United (MANU) downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Raymond James
Munich Re (MURGY) downgraded to Sell from Hold at Societe Generale
Targa Resources (TRGP) downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Wells Fargo
Tractor Supply (TSCO) downgraded to Perform from Outperform at Oppenheimer
Initiations
Allscripts (MDRX) initiated with an Outperform at RBC Capital
Cerner (CERN) initiated with an Outperform at RBC Capital
Computer Programs (CPSI) initiated with an Outperform at RBC Capital
Cumulus Media (CMLS) initiated with an Outperform at RBC Capital
Hanover Insurance (THG) initiated with a Buy at Guggenheim
Hibbett Sports (HIBB) initiated with a Hold at Deutsche Bank
MedAssets (MDAS) initiated with a Sector Perform at RBC Capital
Quality Systems (QSII) initiated with a Sector Perform at RBC Capital
RSP Permian (RSPP) initiated with an Outperform at RBC Capital
WebMD (WBMD) initiated with a Top Pick at RBC Capital
athenahealth (ATHN) initiated with a Sector Perform at RBC Capital
eHealth (EHTH) initiated with an Outperform at RBC Capital
COMPANY NEWS
Jos. A. Bank (JOSB) to acquire Everest Holdings, parent of Eddie Bauer, for $825M
Weight Watchers (WTW) shares fell 20% after Q4 profit missed expectations, sharply cut fiscal 2014 earnings outlook
Occidental Petroleum (OXY) sold Hugoton Field assets for $1.4B
AIG (AIG) raised quarterly dividend 25%, authorized additional $1B share repurchase
Scripps Networks (SNI) announced additional $1B repurchase plan
S&P lowered to 'BBB-' from 'BBB' its long-term corporate credit ratings on Sony Corp. (SNE)
Yahoo (YHOO) acquired Distill
Microsoft (MSFT) said sold 2.27M Xbox games in January
EARNINGS
Companies that beat consensus earnings expectations last night and today include:
Cliffs Natural (CLF), J2 Global (JCOM), Cloud Peak (CLD), Cognex (CGNX), Cray (CRAY), Kona Grill (KONA), Radiant Logistics (RLGT), Ingram Micro (IM), Limelight Networks (LLNW), Agilent (A), Brocade (BRCD), Bankrate (RATE), AIG (AIG)
Companies that missed consensus earnings expectations include:
Ensign Group (ENSG), Silvercorp Metals (SVM), CafePress (PRSS), Mercer (MERC), Trulia (TRLA), Newpark Resources (NR), GNC Holdings (GNC), Weight Watchers (WTW), ArthroCare (ARTC), Regal Entertainment (RGC)
Companies that matched consensus earnings expectations include:
Equifax (EFX), Ellie Mae (ELLI), Masimo (MASI), VCA Antech (WOOF)
NEWSPAPERS/WEBSITES
Charter (CHTR) likely to look at other suitors, unlikely to counterbid for Time Warner Cable (TWC), WSJ reports
Procter & Gamble (PG) considering current and former executives as candidates for CEO job, Reuters reports
Murphy Oil (MUR) may sell about $3B of Asian assets, Reuters reports
AIG (AIG) to cut 3% of global workforce, Bloomberg reports
Wells Fargo (WFC) moves back into the subprime home market, Reuters reports
Goodyear Tire (GT), Sumitomo look to dissolve 15-year partnership, Nikkei reports
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) interested in Arena (ARNA), Daily Mail reports
Tesla (TSLA) Model S catches fire in Toronto garage, Business Insider reports
Malone's (LBTYA) cable moves slow with Comcast (CMCSA), Time Warner Cable (TWC) deal, Bloomberg reports
Facebook (FB) privacy settlement up against opposition, AP reports
SYNDICATE
Celsion (CLSN) files to sell 194,986 shares for holder
Colfax (CFX) 8M share Secondary priced at $68.75
Inogen (INGN) 4.412M share IPO priced at $16.00
Navios Acquisition (NNA) files to sell 12M shares of common stock
Wright Medical (WMGI) files to sell 590K shares of common stock for holders
Average:
0
Your rating: None
ZOZO 1 ?@zozotrader1 28m
Markets closed Monday 3 Day Weekend Presidents Day in USA and Markets closed in Canada Family Day for Monday
Pre Market Movers
Top Gaining Stocks
Price %Change
LCAV Lca-vision Inc. 5.37 26.35%
LOGM Logmein Inc. 40.00 20.23%
JCOM j2 Global Inc 55.74 19.00%
CRAY Cray Inc. 33.20 10.78%
CLF Cliffs Natural Re... 23.89 9.09%
KOOL Thermogenesis Cor... 2.50 8.70%
MUX Mcewen Mining 3.20 7.38%
SIL Silver Miners Etf... 15.02 6.75%
NUGT Direxion Daily Go... 50.80 6.66%
IAG Iamgold Corp. 4.23 4.96%
SAND Sandstorm Gold Lt... 5.88 4.81%
PQ Petroquest Energy... 4.15 4.53%
ETE Energy Transfer E... 45.98 4.41%
WLT Walter Energy Inc... 11.45 4.19%
CIEN Ciena Corp 24.25 4.12%
NG Novagold Resource... 3.40 3.98%
RMTI Rockwell Medical ... 13.06 3.82%
AUY Yamana Gold Inc. ... 10.65 3.70%
PAAS Pan American Silv... 14.60 3.69%
AG First Majestic Si... 12.11 3.68%
Top Losing Stocks
Price %Change
WTW Weight Watchers I... 24.20 -20.86%
GNC Gnc Holdings 44.55 -14.96%
TRLA Trulia Inc. 31.26 -14.19%
CHGG Chegg Inc. 7.00 -11.84%
JDST Direxion Daily Ju... 18.00 -8.26%
MW Mens Wearhouse In... 43.00 -7.59%
VSI Vitamin Shoppe 41.10 -7.12%
A Agilent Technolog... 56.20 -6.46%
VFC VF Corp. 56.50 -5.66%
HERO Hercules Offshore... 4.36 -5.01%
NTRI Nutrisystem Inc 14.27 -4.29%
JOSB Jos. A. Bank Clot... 53.00 -3.50%
NLY Annaly Capital Ma... 10.62 -2.84%
NTWK Netsol Technologi... 4.50 -2.81%
DZZ DB Gold Double Sh... 6.34 -2.61%
KNDI Kandi Technologie... 12.95 -2.48%
ARO Aeropostale Inc. ... 6.30 -1.56%
SNE Sony Corp. Ads 16.94 -1.51%
OHRP Ohr Pharmaceutica... 16.23 -1.28%
TWC Time Warner Cable... 142.95 -1.28%
Read more at http://thestockmarketwatch.com/markets/pre-market/#GFEQxm4kHvcYOHLr.99
data:
Import and Export Prices
[Report][djStar]8:30 AM ET
Industrial Production
[Report][Star]9:15 AM ET
Consumer Sentiment
[Report][djStar]9:55 AM ET
Futures +13
good morning
Frontrunning:
Comcast Agrees to Buy Time Warner Cable for $45.2 Billion (BBG)
Italian leadership squabble weighs as shares halt hot run (Reuters)
Russia says Syria aid draft could open door to military action (Reuters)
China trust assets rise 46% in 2013 (WSJ), China Trust Assets Surge to $1.8 Trillion Amid Default Risks (BBG)
Australian Unemployment Jumps to 10-Year High (BBG)
Seven banks face new forex market-rigging claims in lawsuit (FT)
Tea Party Scorns Republicans as House Lifts Debt Ceiling (BBG)
Peso plunge forces Argentine soya hoarding (FT)
BNP Paribas Net Falls After $1.1 Billion U.S. Legal Charge (BBG)
Hacking Joins Curriculum as Businesses Seek Cyber Skills (BBG)
Android's 'Open' System Has Limits (WSJ)
Blackstone-Fueled Single-Family Home Boom Lifts Chicago (BBG)
Turkey Dec. Current Account Gap More Than Doubles (BBG)
Yes, There’s a Pilot Shortage: Salaries Start at $21,000 (BBG)
Krawcheck Says Women on Wall Street Have ‘Gone Backwards' (BBG)
MIT Mistakenly Tells Some Applicants They’ve Been Admitted (BBG)
Overnight Media Digest
WSJ
* Comcast Corp has agreed to buy Time Warner Cable for $45 billion in stock, in a deal that would combine the nation's two biggest cable operators. With the proposed deal, Comcast almost certainly ends an eight-month takeover battle for TWC waged by Charter Communications Inc and its biggest shareholder, Liberty Media Corp.
* Apple Inc said it has verified that its suppliers do not use tantalum, a key metal used in electronic components, secured from sources that use the mineral's sale to provide funds for violent armed groups in war-torn parts of Africa.
* Dropbox Inc, the fast-growing online storage company, plans to name Google Inc executive Dennis Woodside as its first chief operating officer. Woodside, a Google veteran of more than 10 years most recently ran the Motorola Mobility handset unit.
* Newly discovered documents had revealed that Google Inc has imposed strict restrictions on device makers that want access to its search engine, YouTube or the more than one million apps in its Play Store. In return, the device makers must feature other Google apps and set Google search as the default for users, according to the agreements.
* Verizon Wireless is easing into the cellphone market's price war, cutting rates on some of its data plans by as much as 12.5 percent. Customers now paying $80 a month for a smartphone plan with 500 megabytes of data can get that same service for $10 less a month, among other offers.
* BNP Paribas SA Thursday announced an unexpected slump in fourth-quarter profit after it set aside a $1.1 billion provision against possible penalties for allegedly violating U.S. laws that restrict financial transactions with countries under economic sanctions.
* On Thursday, cable companies Comcast Corp, Time Warner Cable Inc and Charter Communications Inc along with tech giants Google Inc and Microsoft Corp , are expected to announce a new coalition to bolster efforts to expand access to WiFi.
* Lenovo Group Ltd warned its earnings in the short-term could be hurt by its acquisition of Google Inc's Motorola Mobility handset business, even as the Chinese personal-computer maker reported a 30 percent jump in fiscal third-quarter net profit.
* Merck & Co Inc's effort to sell its portfolio of well-known consumer brands including Coppertone sunscreen and Claritin allergy pills is kicking into high gear, with big consumer and healthcare industry players expected to put in bids that could top $10 billion.
* Avon Products Inc is in advanced talks with federal authorities to settle a long-running bribery probe that has dogged the beauty products company for years and could cost tens of millions of dollars to resolve.
* A giant solar-power project officially opening this week in the California desert is the first of its kind, and may be among the last, in part because of growing evidence that the technology it uses is killing birds. The $2.2 billion solar farm with nearly 350,000 mirrors, each the size of a garage door, that reflect sunlight onto boilers atop towers, creating steam that drives power generators.
* Firefox, the open-source browser that sparred with advertisers over tracking Web users, will soon display advertising. The non-profit Mozilla Foundation, which owns Firefox, said Wednesday it would sell a small number of ads, which will appear on new browser tabs for new users.
* Apple Inc appears to be scaling back its lofty TV industry plans. The company is talking to media companies and pay TV distributors including Time Warner Cable Inc about launching a revamped Apple-branded TV set-top box in coming months, according to people familiar with the matter.
* Deere & Co, the world's largest seller of farm machinery, said Wednesday it expects U.S. tax breaks that helped propel sales of farm equipment in recent years to be reinstated later this year.
* Chinese cosmetics retailer Jumei.com has tapped banks for an initial public offering in the United States, said people familiar with the company's plans. The IPO might raise about $600 million, at a valuation above $3 billion, and is expected to come later this year.
* Total SA was hit by the same mix of declining refining margins and high exploration costs that have slammed its European rivals in the fourth quarter, causing its earnings to slide.
* Cisco Systems Inc continues to face sagging demand for some important products, a problem exacerbated in its fiscal second quarter by some faulty memory chips. The company on Wednesday reported a 55 percent drop in income for the quarter, blaming a $655 million charge to cover the costs of addressing the memory-chip problem.
* Samsung Electronics Co is revamping its push into the U.S. enterprise and government sector, adding further pressure to the new leadership at the company that once dominated that space - BlackBerry Ltd. Samsung recently won an order for roughly 7,000 smartphones from the U.S. Army and is close to securing an order for several thousand devices from the U.S. National Security Agency, according to a person familiar with the matter.
* Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is pressing Canada for subsidies to keep production at a minivan factory in Windsor, Ontario, a move that underscores the clout global auto makers wield when bargaining with governments eager for manufacturing jobs.
* The chief executive of SoftBank Corp said its Sprint Corp wireless subsidiary needs to make another acquisition in the United States if it is to achieve its ambition of shaking up the country's mobile-phone market.
* The Obama administration released voluntary cybersecurity guidelines for utilities, banks and other crucial industries Wednesday, framing them as a basic step companies can take to secure their networks against hackers and other online threats.
FT
The Bank of England indicated on Wednesday that interest rates were unlikely to rise before next year's election, as it unveiled bullish economic forecasts that support Finance Minister George Osborne's claim that the economic recovery is on track.
Billionaire Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway is in talks with Graham Holdings, formerly The Washington Post Co, to swap a 28 percent stake in the media company for control of one of its yet-to-be-formed units.
Two of the leading Bitcoin exchanges halted withdrawals after being hit by attacks from unknown computer hackers, further damaging the prospects of the virtual currency winning mainstream acceptance.
Cisco Systems posted an 8 percent slide in quarterly revenue as it struggled to cope with a slump in demand from emerging markets and a product transition that hit sales of its core router business.
Cadbury chocolate and Oreo cookie seller Mondelez International posted lower-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings and sales as it struggled to grow amid tough economic conditions for food companies.
NYT
* Comcast Corp will announce a deal to acquire Time Warner Cable in an all-stock deal that will unite the biggest and second largest cable television operators in the country, according to people briefed on the matter.
* Senate Republican leaders rescued a measure to raise the nation's borrowing limit, overcoming a threatened filibuster to clear the way for final approval.
* More than 1.1 million people signed up for health insurance through federal and state marketplaces in January, according to the government, and the number of young people enrolling increased faster than that of any other group.
* Toyota Motor Corp is recalling all of the 1.9 million newest-generation Prius vehicles it has sold worldwide because of a programming error that could cause their gas-electric hybrid systems to shut down, the automaker said Wednesday.
* The owner of WQHT-FM, the hip-hop station better known as Hot 97, is buying WBLS-FM and one other station for $131 million in cash, in a deal that will align some of New York's most popular radio stations specializing in black music.
* The American Bankers Association announced on Wednesday that it was dropping its lawsuit to block parts of the Volcker Rule from going into effect after regulators modified what the group found most objectionable.
* Kroger Co, the biggest supermarket operator in the United States, faces a lawsuit claiming it deceived consumers by marketing a store brand as products from humanely raised chickens when the animals were raised under standard commercial farming.
* George Canellos, the former co-chief of enforcement at the Securities and Exchange Commission, announced on Wednesday that he would be joining Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy as a partner and global head of the firm's litigation department.
* The Walt Disney Co said on Wednesday that it plans to partner with the technology accelerator TechStars to advise and encourage 10 startups. Each company will receive $120,000 and work with Disney leaders like Chief Executive Robert Iger for three months starting June 30.
* A total of 131 CEOs in the United States, mostly at public companies, departed their posts in January, the highest monthly total since February 2010 and 15.9 percent higher than the same period last year, according to findings from Challenger, Gray & Christmas, an outplacement firm.
* Standard Chartered Plc, the British bank that earns most of its profit in Asia, is prepping its Swiss private bank for a sale as it prunes its non-core operations, a spokeswoman confirmed Wednesday.
* Grupo Bimbo, a large Mexican baking company, agreed on Wednesday to buy Canada Bread, a baking company based in Toronto that is 90 percent owned by Maple Leaf Foods, for $1.67 billion.
* The French specialty materials maker Imerys SA said Wednesday that it had signed an agreement to acquire Amcol International Corp for $1.6 billion in cash and the assumption of debt.
* Société Générale said on Wednesday that it had swung to a profit in the fourth quarter, as it booked fewer one-time items than it did a year earlier. The French bank also said it would raise its dividend.
* Lenovo Group Ltd, the world's biggest maker of personal computers, reported Thursday it had made progress in its plan to expand beyond PCs, even before a planned acquisition of Motorola Mobility.
Canada
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
* A crackdown on fake transit passes has resulted in dozens of arrests and almost 200 criminal charges. Most of those arrested were charged with knowingly using fake Metropasses, but seven are accused of selling them.
* There was some light rumbling under Lake Ontario late Wednesday caused by a minor earthquake. The U.S. Geological Survey says the 2.9 magnitude quake happened just before midnight, 40 kilometres southwest of Cobourg, Ontario.
Reports in the business section:
* Chrysler Group LLC is proposing a major $3.6-billion retooling of not one but two Canadian auto plants as it enters high-stakes negotiations with the federal and Ontario governments for financial assistance.
* Husky Energy Inc said it sold one million barrels of Canadian oil to Indian Oil Corp, a state-owned refinery, in late 2013, a move that boosts the company's ability to capture world pricing and helps open the door for more Canadian producers to ship crude to Asia.
NATIONAL POST
* Two teenage boys were charged in Quebec Wednesday with first-degree murder and conspiracy in the deaths of two young sisters, aged 17 and 22, and the teenage boyfriend of the younger sister.
* Finance minister Jim Flaherty made a deliberate decision to unfairly shortchange Ontario to the tune of $641 million in the federal budget, Premier Kathleen Wynne charged Wednesday.
FINANCIAL POST
* The U.S. federal budget has closed a loophole offering a shortcut to wealthy foreign investors, which may impact Canada's luxury housing markets in Vancouver and Toronto, already impacted by changes in immigration policy.
* Kinross Gold Corp surprised investors on Wednesday by slashing its gold reserves by a staggering 33 percent as it focuses on mining high-grade ounces in a low-price environment.
China
CHINA SECURITIES JOURNAL
- Part of the southern Chinese Guangzhou Baiyun Airport will be included in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Free Trade Zone (FTZ), a source told the official paper. This would increase the zone's size to over 930 square kilometres, around 30 times larger than the Shanghai FTZ.
SECURITIES TIMES
- China's securities regulator has raised the asset requirement threshold for bank-broker partnerships to 50 billion yuan ($8.25 billion). The new regulation will come into effect from Feb. 17.
SHANGHAI DAILY
- Shanghai will draw on international practices to develop an attractive tax policy for its pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ), the city's tax authorities said on Wednesday.
PEOPLE'S DAILY
- China's Prime Minister Li Keqiang emphasised the fight against air pollution and regulation of medical equipment at a State Council executive meeting on Wednesday.
Britain
The Telegraph
RBS WARNED OF CREDIT RATING 'DOWNGRADE'
Royal Bank of Scotland has been warned by one of the world's main ratings agencies that its credit is at risk of being downgraded following the surprise revelation last month of weaker than expected capital levels.
Moody's said it had put RBS's debt "on review for downgrade" pointing to the taxpayer-backed lender's "weaker than previously anticipated regulatory capital position".
The Guardian
BANK OF ENGLAND TO KEEP INTEREST RATES AT 0.5 PCT FOR AT LEAST ANOTHER YEAR
The Bank of England has signalled it will keep interest rates on hold at the historic low of 0.5 percent for at least another year, despite forecasting strong growth of 3.4 percent in 2014.
SCOTTISH INDEPENDENCE: RBS BOSS PLAYS DOWN REPORTS OF LONDON MOVE
The chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland, Ross McEwan, has made it clear the bank will adapt its business for an independent Scotland.
TWO HELD IN ROLLS-ROYCE BRIBERY INQUIRY
Britain's Serious Fraud Office has arrested two people and raided five homes as part of its investigation into alleged bribery and corruption at the engineering group Rolls-Royce .
VODAFONE'S $2 BLN INDIAN TAX BILL ROW: PEACE TALKS ABOUT TO BREAK DOWN
India plans to pull out of talks with Vodafone over a $2 billion tax dispute, in a move that will prolong a row that is already more than six-years old and increase uncertainty among investors in Asia's third-largest economy.
STRUGGLING MORRISONS LINKED TO PRIVATE EQUITY BUYOUT
The pressure on Morrisons Chief Executive Dalton Philips and Chairman Ian Gibson intensified on Wednesday amid rumours that the Bradford-based supermarket could be subject to a bid.
The Times
RECKITT SEEKS A CURE FOR HEALTH TROUBLES AS PERFECT RECORD ENDS
A faultless 15-year record of profit growth at Reckitt Benckiser was shattered yesterday when the household products empire revealed that it had been hit by weak emerging markets and a slump in American sales of drug addiction treatments.
MAURITANIA COMES UP DRY AS TULLOW DISAPPOINTS YET AGAIN
Long-suffering investors in Tullow Oil were urged to "be realistic" yesterday after the explorer revealed that another of its wells had come up dry.
DX REPEATS CHALLENGE TO ROYAL MAIL
One of a clutch of delivery companies to have made bold claims that it would profit from the decline in Royal Mail is set to be floated on the stock market - for the second time in ten years.
DX Group is expected to say today that it plans to raise £170 million on AIM in an initial public offering that would value the company at up to 180 million pounds ($298.53 million).
The Independent
H&M TO OPEN FIRST STORE IN INDIA IN A BID CATCH UP WITH RIVAL INDITEX
H&M will open its first store in India this year as the world's second-biggest fashion retailer becomes the latest to take advantage of the opening of its economy to foreign operators.
Fly On The Wall 7:00 AM Market Snapshot
FUTURES:
Just before 7 a.m. ET:
S&P: -9.00 vs. fair value
Dow: -74.00 vs. fair value
Nasdaq: -19.00 vs. fair value
ECONOMIC REPORTS
Domestic economic reports scheduled for today include:
Retail sales for January at 8:30--consensus -0.1%; ex-autos & gas consensus +0.2%
Jobless claims for week of Feb. 8 at 8:30--consensus 330K
Business inventories for December at 10:00--consensus +0.5%
ANALYST RESEARCH
Upgrades
Approach Resources (AREX) upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform at Iberia
athenahealth (ATHN) upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at Cowen
Children's Place (PLCE) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at Piper Jaffray
Ctrip.com (CTRP) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley
Helix Energy (HLX) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Raymond James
NVIDIA (NVDA) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at B. Riley
Nanosphere (NSPH) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Roth Capital
Downgrades
Angie's List (ANGI) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Stifel
Angie's List (ANGI) downgraded to Market Perform from Strong Buy at Raymond James
Avago (AVGO) downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at JMP Securities
Depomed (DEPO) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Roth Capital
EastGroup Properties (EGP) downgraded to Reduce from Neutral at SunTrust
Itron (ITRI) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Canaccord
Itron (ITRI) downgraded to Sell from Hold at Brean Capital
Itron (ITRI) downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JPMorgan
Lorillard (LO) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies
Sempra Energy (SRE) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup
The Medicines Co. (MDCO) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies
Titan Machinery (TITN) downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Longbow
Initiations
Acxiom (ACXM) initiated with a Market Perform at Wells Fargo
Chimerix (CMRX) initiated with a Buy at Canaccord
CoStar Group (CSGP) initiated with an Outperform at Wells Fargo
Coach (COH) initiated with a Buy at Nomura
Columbia Sportswear (COLM) initiated with a Buy at Nomura
CoreLogic (CLGX) initiated with an Outperform at Wells Fargo
Costco (COST) initiated with a Buy at Nomura
Craft Brew (BREW) assumed with a Neutral at Citigroup
Deckers Outdoor (DECK) initiated with a Neutral at Nomura
Dun & Bradstreet (DNB) initiated with a Market Perform at Wells Fargo
Equifax (EFX) initiated with a Market Perform at Wells Fargo
FactSet (FDS) initiated with a Market Perform at Wells Fargo
Fair Isaac (FICO) initiated with a Market Perform at Wells Fargo
Gartner (IT) initiated with an Outperform at Wells Fargo
Hanesbrands (HBI) initiated with a Neutral at Nomura
IHS Inc. (IHS) initiated with an Outperform at Wells Fargo
Iconix Brand (ICON) initiated with a Buy at Nomura
J.C. Penney (JCP) initiated with a Reduce at Nomura
Kohl's (KSS) initiated with a Buy at Nomura
lululemon (LULU) initiated with a Buy at Nomura
MSCI (MSCI) initiated with an Outperform at Wells Fargo
Macy's (M) initiated with a Buy at Nomura
McGraw Hill Financial (MHFI) initiated with a Market Perform at Wells Fargo
Moody's (MCO) initiated with a Market Perform at Wells Fargo
Nielsen (NLSN) initiated with an Outperform at Wells Fargo
Nike (NKE) initiated with a Buy at Nomura
Nordstrom (JWN) initiated with a Neutral at Nomura
PVH Corp. (PVH) initiated with a Buy at Nomura
Ralph Lauren (RL) initiated with a Neutral at Nomura
Ross Stores (ROST) initiated with a Buy at Nomura
Sempra Energy (SRE) initiated with an Outperform at Wells Fargo
Solera (SLH) initiated with a Market Perform at Wells Fargo
Stage Stores (SSI) initiated with a Neutral at Nomura
Stein Mart (SMRT) initiated with a Buy at Canaccord
TJX (TJX) initiated with a Buy at Nomura
Target (TGT) initiated with a Neutral at Nomura
Tiffany (TIF) initiated with a Buy at Nomura
VF Corp. (VFC) initiated with a Buy at Nomura
Verisk Analytics (VRSK) initiated with an Outperform at Wells Fargo
Wal-Mart (WMT) initiated with a Buy at Nomura
COMPANY NEWS
Time Warner Cable (TWC) to merge with Comcast (CMCSA) in $45.2B deal
AMEC to offer $16 per share, 0.8998 shares to acquire Foster Wheeler (FWLT)
ACCC took action against Pfizer Australia (PFE) for alleged anti-competitive conduct
Whole Foods (WFM) fell 7% after reporting earnings,revenue that missed estimates while cutting its fiscal 2014 profit outlook and lowering high end of sales growth expectations
Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) may acquire unformed Graham Holdings' (GHC) subsidiary
Apache (APA) sold Argentina operations to YPF Sociedad (YPF) for $852M
Colfax (CFX) to acquire Victor Technologies from Irving Place Capital for $947.3M
Teleflex (TFX) announced worldwide recall of ISIS HVT Tracheal Tube
CBS (CBS) announced $1.5B accelerated share repurchase
Cheesecake Factory (CAKE) sees return of about all free cash flow to holders in FY14
EARNINGS
Companies that beat consensus earnings expectations last night and today include:
Orbital Sciences (ORB), Encana (ECA), Higher One (ONE), Quintiles (Q), NetEase.com (NTES), CenturyLink (CTL), NVIDIA (NVDA), Cohu (COHU), MetLife (MET), SunPower (SPWR), Ruckus Wireless (RKUS), Famous Dave's (DAVE), Skechers (SKX), Cisco (CSCO), Applied Materials (AMAT), NetApp (NTAP), Forrester (FORR), CBS (CBS)
Companies that missed consensus earnings expectations include:
Calpine (CPN), Walker & Dunlop (WD), Kinross Gold (KGC), General Cable (BGC), Morningstar (MORN), LeapFrog (LF), Enbridge Energy (EEP), Zillow (Z), iPass (IPAS), Manning & Napier (MN), Intrepid Potash (IPI), Mondelez (MDLZ), Whole Foods (WFM), B&G Foods (BGS)
Companies that matched consensus earnings expectations include:
Nielsen (NLSN), Student Transportation (STB), Digital Cinema (DCIN), LivePerson (LPSN), Tangoe (TNGO), Blackbaud (BLKB), American Equity (AEL)
NEWSPAPERS/WEBSITES
Comcast (CMCSA) looking to step into Netflix (NFLX) streaming territory, WSJ reports
Google's (GOOG) Android comes with restrictions for device makers, WSJ reports
Nielsen (NLSN) faces intense competition measuring online viewers, WSJ reports
Avon Products (AVP) in talks to settle bribery probe, WSJ reports
Winter weather forces automakers (F, GM,TM, HMC) to increase discounting, Reuters reports
Verizon (VZ) Wireless prepares price cuts, aims to close call centers, Re/code reports
Dropbox hires Google (GOOG) executive as COO, WSJ reports
KKR (KKR), Apax said to be mulling bid for Telesat, Bloomberg reports
Merck (MRK) consumer-brand portfolio could fetch $10B, WSJ reports
SYNDICATE
Amedica (AMDA) 3.5M share IPO priced at $5.75
AtriCure (ATRC) files to sell common stock for holders
Booz Allen (BAH) files to sell 7.35M common shares for Carlyle affiliates
Colfax (CFX) files to sell 6.5M shares of common stock
Enzymotec (ENZY) files to sell 4M shares of common stock for holders
GenVec (GNVC) files to sell $10M shares of common stock
Installed Building Products (IBP) 7.45M share IPO priced at $11.00
MacroGenics (MGNX) 3M share Secondary priced at $36.50
PTC Therapeutics (PTCT) 4.49M share Secondary priced at $24.50
Average:
0
Your rating: None
ZOZO 1 ?@zozotrader1 1h
Yellen testimony postponed Fed Speak was suppose to be at 10:30 am
Pre Market Movers
Top Gaining Stocks
Price %Change
IO Ion Geophysical 3.94 25.08%
ARCW Arc Group Worldwi... 29.00 13.41%
HEP Holly Energy Part... 35.75 8.07%
TWC Time Warner Cable... 146.00 7.90%
GNRC Generac Holdings ... 53.50 7.24%
MET Metlife Inc. 52.38 5.01%
NVDA Nvidia Corp 17.65 4.87%
RMTI Rockwell Medical ... 12.01 4.53%
SNMX Senomyx Inc. 10.10 4.23%
CVC Cablevision Syste... 17.59 4.21%
MOH Molina Healthcare... 34.00 3.88%
CBS Cbs 64.05 3.56%
TSEM Tower Semiconduct... 7.35 3.23%
UNG United States Nat... 24.50 3.16%
CTRL Control4 Corporat... 24.15 3.16%
EDZ Direxion Daily Em... 48.05 3.02%
BLRX Biolinerx Ltd. 2.90 2.84%
PKG Packaging Corp. o... 73.86 2.50%
ACHN Achillion Pharmac... 3.75 2.46%
ANR Alpha Natural Res... 5.17 2.17%
Top Losing Stocks
Price %Change
URS Urs Corp. 20.07 -59.34%
DPK Direxion Daily De... 24.15 -28.84%
ITRI Itron Inc. 31.92 -18.55%
ANGI Angie\'s List Inc... 14.19 -17.02%
CADC China Advanced Co... 7.00 -12.50%
MDCO Medicines Company... 29.47 -10.97%
WFM Whole Foods Marke... 50.75 -8.49%
LF Leapfrog Enterpri... 6.45 -8.38%
LPSN Liveperson Inc. 12.35 -6.44%
CHTR Charter Communica... 129.00 -6.23%
CTRP Ctrip.com Interna... 39.59 -5.11%
EONC eon Communication... 4.93 -4.27%
CSCO Cisco Systems Inc... 21.92 -4.07%
S Sprint Corporatio... 7.76 -3.84%
BCS Barclays Plc Ads ... 16.83 -3.33%
BSBR Banco Santander B... 4.77 -3.25%
DEPO Depomed Inc. 12.06 -3.21%
SALE Retailmenot Inc. ... 41.00 -3.10%
LYG Lloyds Banking Gr... 5.43 -3.04%
JDST Direxion Daily Ju... 23.50 -2.77%
Read more at http://thestockmarketwatch.com/markets/pre-market/#qW6KPa0zyfGc7IqH.99
data:
Jobless Claims
[Report][Star]8:30 AM ET
Retail Sales
[Report][Star]8:30 AM ET
Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index
[Bullet9:45 AM ET
Business Inventories
[Report][djStar]10:00 AM ET
EIA Natural Gas Report
[Bullet10:30 AM ET
Janet Yellen Speaks
10:30 AM ET
3-Month Bill Announcement
[Bullet11:00 AM ET
6-Month Bill Announcement
[Bullet11:00 AM ET
30-Yr TIPS Announcement
[Bullet11:00 AM ET
30-Yr Bond Auction
[Bullet1:00 PM ET
Fed Balance Sheet
[Bullet4:30 PM ET
Money Supply
[Bullet4:30 PM ET
Futures -70
good morning
$UGAZ ~ Closed out friend's trade today fr yesterday
25.85/27.53 for $399 profit
she is 3 for 3 and up $695
6.95% on her 5K + 5K margin
she's thrilled....
wanted more on UGAZ....storm and all....but mentioned when things are that obvious....they usually don't work out....if they did, everyone would be rich...
Report comes out tomorrow:
EIA Natural Gas Report 10:30 AM ET
so $DGAZ and $UGAZ should be in play
Frontrunning:
Anti-Euro Party’s Le Pen Gains Supporters, French Poll Shows (BBG)
Carney Renews BOE Low-Rate Pledge to Fight Slack in Economy (BBG)
Bank of England hints at 2015 rate rise (Reuters)
ECB bond-buying intact and ready after court decision-Coeure (Reuters)
Oops: Thomson Reuters reports 50 percent drop in fourth quarter operating profit (Reuters)
Canada scraps millionaire visa scheme, dumps 46,000 Chinese applications (SCMP)
Scrap this then? Vancouver facing an influx of 45,000 more rich Chinese (SCMP)
China's January Exports Power Higher, Up 10.6% (WSJ) ... and nobody believes the number
Emerging-Market Shakeout Putting Reserves Into Focus (BBG)
Wall Street's most eligible banker Fleming waits for suitor (Reuters)
Kazakh Devaluation Shows Currency War Stirring as Ruble Dips (BBG)
Toyota to recall 1.9 mln Prius cars for software defect in hybrid system (Reuters)
U.S. Defense Firms Target Exports (WSJ)
Cameron Says Money No Object on Floods as Trip Canceled (BBG)
Finland Drops Debt Target Amid Austerity Backlash (BBG)
Overnight Media Digest
WSJ
* The House on Tuesday approved a bill to extend the federal government's borrowing authority with no strings attached, after Republican leaders dropped all policy demands to avoid a market-rattling confrontation.
* The Federal Reserve will keep winding down one of its highest-profile easy-money programs unless the economy takes a serious turn for the worse, Janet Yellen said in her inaugural public appearance since becoming the central bank's first chairwoman.
* The two largest bitcoin-trading exchanges came under attack from hackers Tuesday, leaving customers unable to withdraw their money in the latest development to roil the fledgling virtual currency.
* Dow Chemical Co rejected investor Dan Loeb's call for the company to split itself in two, saying it already examined the possibility and decided such a move wouldn't be productive.
* The European Union's executive body is raising pressure to reduce U.S. influence over the Internet's architecture amid what it called weakened confidence in the network's governance after revelations of U.S. surveillance.
* Newell Rubbermaid Inc's Graco is recalling 3.77 million child seats because of defective belt harnesses that in some cases won't unlatch and trap children in the seat.
* Food manufacturer TreeHouse Foods Inc said Tuesday it is suing Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc and Keurig Inc for anticompetitive acts intended to maintain a monopoly over the cups used in single-serve brewers.
* Cellphone tower contractors and the companies that hire them need to strictly comply with safety standards, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration said Tuesday, citing "an alarming increase" in preventable injuries and deaths.
* Puerto Rico stepped up preparations for a sale of as much as $3.5 billion in bonds, a test of the financially troubled island's ability to access credit markets.
* A Food and Drug Administration advisory committee voted Tuesday that there isn't enough evidence to say the anti-inflammatory painkiller naproxen is safer than other pain drugs when it comes to heart health.
* Opower Inc, a company that contracts with utilities to help homeowners reduce energy use, has submitted a confidential filing for an initial public offering, according to two people familiar with the matter.
FT
Barclays Chief Executive Antony Jenkins faced an outpouring of criticism at his decision to boost bonuses by 10 percent even as Britain's third largest bank announced falling profit and 12,000 job cuts.
Brevan Howard, one of the world's biggest hedge fund managers, is shutting its $2 billion emerging market fund after slowing growth in developing economies dented the portfolio's performance last year, according to sources.
Alibaba , China's dominant e-commerce company that is gearing up for a public offering that could value it at about $140 billion, said on Tuesday that it would launch its first majority-owned e-commerce venture in the United States.
Sprint posted a fourth-quarter net loss of over $1 billion hit by the costs of its network upgrade, and stiff competition that has pushed the third-largest U.S. mobile operator to explore merger options with T-Mobile US.
Billionaire property investor Sam Zell has joined the effort to oust the board of the CommonWealth REIT, poised to lead a slate of alternative trustees, should CommonWealth investors vote to remove the current board.
NYT
* The House voted 221-201 after Speaker John A. Boehner gave up on a plan to link an increase in borrowing authority to legislation that would have reversed a cut to veteran retirement benefits.
* Janet Yellen, the new chairwoman of the Federal Reserve, told a House committee on Tuesday that she strongly supported and planned to continue the policies adopted under her predecessor, Ben S. Bernanke.
* Federal prosecutors in six states have filed actions against businesses that buy luxury cars at domestic dealerships and then send them to China.
* After 13 years, six scientific opinions and two legal challenges, an insect-resistant type of corn is on the verge of being approved by the European Union. It would be only the third genetically modified crop to be authorized for cultivation in the 28-nation bloc.
* Dow Chemical said on Tuesday that it saw no value in pursuing a significant breakup, dealing a setback to a hedge fund manager who encouraged the company to split its petrochemicals and specialty chemicals businesses.
* In its most aggressive move yet to take over Time Warner Cable, Charter Communications Inc is proposing a full slate of directors to its target's board.
* Corvex Management has stepped up its fight against CommonWealth REIT, a real estate investment concern, by adding billionaire Samuel Zell to its slate of board nominees for the company.
* Levo League, an online career forum that aims to help young people, especially women, in the early stages of their careers, raised $7 million through a new round of angel investment.
Canada
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
* Chrysler Group LLC is seeking a contribution of at least $700 million from the federal and Ontario governments in high-stakes negotiations about the future of its Canadian operations.
* The Conservative government is inflaming a federal-provincial turf war over jobs with a 2014 budget that expands Ottawa's training role, launching new programs aimed at getting Canadians into apprenticeships and skilled trades.
Reports in the business section:
* Under pressure from an activist shareholder, Cliffs Natural Resources Inc said on Tuesday that it would slash capital spending, forgo a planned expansion at a key Canadian mine and shut another mine in Canada, cutting about 500 jobs.
NATIONAL POST
* Canada's Finance Minister Jim Flaherty set the table in Tuesday's budget for a watershed round of collective bargaining in 2014 with plans to save at least $7.4 billion over six years by reducing the benefits of former and current public servants to bring compensation costs closer to those of the private sector.
* The badly-needed new equipment on the Canadian military's shopping list may end up becoming a wish list over the next three years after Tuesday's federal budget pushed $3.1 billion in planned capital spending into the future.
FINANCIAL POST
* Ottawa is giving automakers a $500-million boost, as car companies such as Chrysler Group LLC push for bigger incentives from both federal and provincial governments to continue with production facilities in Canada.
China
CHINA SECURITIES JOURNAL
- Yang Weimin, deputy director of the Central Financial Leading Group, the ruling Communist Party's economic decision-making institution, says it is too early to predict how China's economy will perform in 2014 despite the fall in the newly released PMI data.
- Sources said permission will be granted in the first half of this year for the establishment of the Tianjin Free Trade Zone.
SHANGHAI SECURITIES NEWS
- Bank of Communications Co said in a report that net profit growth for China's listed banks is expected to fall to 8.31 percent and non-performing loans could rise to around 1.1 percent.
CHINA DAILY
- The central government will introduce a series of policies to implement a landmark anti-pollution plan that aims to reduce airborne particles, leveraging pricing, taxation and investment, said Zhai Qing, vice-minister of environmental protection.
- Historic talks between China and Taiwan in Nanjing are a promising new start that will deepen and enhance mutual goodwill, but it is naive to expect too much from the meeting, an editorial said.
PEOPLE'S DAILY
- The Chinese have never been so close to their goal of great national rejuvenation, but while 2014 is one of the most promising years for China it will also be one of its most challenging, an editorial said.
Britain
The Telegraph
BARCLAYS CULL TO CLEAR OUT SENIOR BANKERS Hundreds of senior Barclays investment bankers and managers face being made redundant this year, along with thousands of ordinary staff, as the lender looks to cut as many as 12,000 jobs.
VODAFONE'S 5.8 BLN STG ONO BID EXPECTED TO BE REJECTED
Vodafone's 5.8 billion pound ($9.56 billion)bid for Ono will be rejected, it was expected this evening, following a meeting of the Spanish cable operator's board.
HIKMA COMBINES CHAIRMAN AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE ROLE
Hikma Pharmaceuticals' chief executive is to take on the additional role of chairman later this year. The FTSE-250 company said its chief executive Said Darwazah will assume the dual role in May, when his 83-year-old father, Samih Darwazah, steps down as chairman of the board.
The Guardian
BANK OF ENGLAND LAUNCHES INQUIRY INTO FOREX MANIPULATION CLAIMS
The Bank of England has launched an internal inquiry into allegations that its officials endorsed sharing of information between traders in the foreign exchange market, the central bank's deputy governor told Members of Parliament.
WAITROSE, ALDI AND LIDL EAT FURTHER INTO MAJOR SUPERMARKETS' MARKET SHARE
The UK's grocery market saw growth slide to its slowest pace since 2005 as Morrisons, Asda and Tesco continue to take a battering from discounters and the upmarket grocer Waitrose. ()
NEW LOOK IPO PLANS ON ICE
Privately-owned retailer New Look is standing back from the rush to the stock market with no plans to seek a public listing until next autumn at the earliest.
THOMAS COOK SAYS COST-CUTTING PLAN AHEAD OF TARGET AFTER LATEST DISPOSAL
Holiday operator Thomas Cook said a 45 million pound asset sale on Tuesday helped it reach a target for disposals ahead of schedule as it reported a narrowing seasonal loss, giving it further confidence in its turnaround plan.
The Times
GOVERNMENT PLANNED FOR CO-OP TO BUY LLOYDS BRANCHES
The Government made it clear that it wanted Lloyds to sell hundreds of branches to the Co-operative Bank for political reasons in a deal that helped to push the mutual into ruin, a senior Bank of England official said today.
'WALKIE SCORCHIE' DEVELOPER LAND SECURITIES TO TURN DOWN THE HEAT
Months after the 37-storey tower, officially known as 20 Fenchurch Street, fried an egg and melted a Jaguar car and City workers' shoes with the intensity of the glare from its south-facing glass façade, its developers, Land Securities , believe they have devised a solution.
The Independent
ANDREW BAILEY DENIES BANK OF ENGLAND KNEW OF FOREX MARKET MANIPULATION
The deputy governor of the Bank of England has been forced to deny that it condones market manipulation after it was dragged into an investigation over foreign exchange rate-fixing claims which he agreed could be "enormously damaging" to it.
Fly On The Wall 7:00 AM Market Snapshot
ECONOMIC REPORTS
Domestic economic reports scheduled for today include:
Treasury budget for January at 2:00 pm ET--consensus -$10B
ANALYST RESEARCH
Upgrades
Itron (ITRI) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Needham
Pioneer Energy (PES) upgraded to Buy from Speculative Buy at Global Hunter
RBC Bearings (ROLL) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill
Smith & Nephew (SNN) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank
Sprint (S) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank
TriCo Bancshares (TCBK) upgraded to Strong Buy from Outperform at Raymond James
TripAdvisor (TRIP) upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital
Veeco (VECO) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse
Waste Connections (WCN) upgraded to Buy from Hold at BB&T
Zoetis (ZTS) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at William Blair
Downgrades
Aimco (AIV) downgraded to Hold from Buy at MLV & Co.
Amazon.com (AMZN) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS
American Railcar (ARII) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Longbow
Cadence (CADX) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Wedbush
China Lodging Group (HTHT) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman
Dean Foods (DF) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Stifel
Green Mountain (GMCR) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Longbow
Huntsman (HUN) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup
Intuit (INTU) downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Evercore
Jive Software (JIVE) downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley
MYR Group (MYRG) downgraded to Hold from Buy at KeyBanc
Mallinckrodt (MNK) downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley
ReachLocal (RLOC) downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan
Royal Gold (RGLD) downgraded to Hold from Buy at MLV & Co.
Seadrill (SDRL) downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo
Senior Housing (SNH) downgraded to Sell from Neutral at UBS
Initiations
ACE Limited (ACE) initiated with a Neutral at Citigroup
AXIS Capital (AXS) initiated with a Sell at Citigroup
Allstate (ALL) initiated with a Neutral at Citigroup
America First Tax Exempt Investors (ATAX) initiated with an Outperform at Oppenheimer
Aon plc (AON) initiated with a Buy at Citigroup
Arthur J. Gallagher (AJG) initiated with a Neutral at Citigroup
ChannelAdvisor (ECOM) initiated with an Outperform at RW Baird
Chubb (CB) initiated with a Sell at Citigroup
ClubCorp (MYCC) initiated with a Market Perform at Wells Fargo
LifeVantage (LFVN) initiated with an In-Line at Imperial Capital
Marsh & McLennan (MMC) initiated with a Neutral at Citigroup
Oasis Petroleum (OAS) initiated with a Neutral at Citigroup
Progressive (PGR) initiated with a Neutral at Citigroup
Regeneron (REGN) re-initiated with a Buy at BofA/Merrill
RenaissanceRe (RNR) initiated with a Neutral at Citigroup
Travelers (TRV) initiated with a Sell at Citigroup
XL Group (XL) initiated with a Sell at Citigroup
HOT STOCKS
TreeHouse (THS) sued Green Mountain (GMCR) over cup monopoly
AMCOL (ACO) to merge with Imerys in $41 per share transaction valued at about $1.6B
Mosaic (MOS) said 'potash prices seem to have found a bottom'
Dow Chemical (DOW) review found 'significant' break-up of company creates no productivity
PHH Corp. (PHH) exploring alternatives for fleet, mortgage businesses
Black Diamond (BDE) exploring strategic alternatives for Gregory Mountain unit
EARNINGS
Companies that beat consensus earnings expectations last night and today include:
Euronet (EEFT), Charles River Labs (CRL), FireEye (FEYE), Control4 (CTRL), SS&C Technologies (SSNC), Seattle Genetics (SGEN), PHH Corp. (PHH), Pzena Investment (PZN), Fossil (FOSL), DaVita (DVA), Trimble Navigation (TRMB), Conversant (CNVR), Diodes (DIOD), Guidance Software (GUID), Argo Group (AGII)
Companies that missed consensus earnings expectations include:
Talisman Energy (TLM), Energen (EGN), Tower Group (TWGP), JBT Corp.(JBT), Covanta (CVA), Willis Group (WSH), Cutera (CUTR), , Sangamo (SGMO), ViaSat (VSAT), Western Union (WU)
Companies that matched consensus earnings expectations include:
tw telecom (TWTC), Jive Software (JIVE), Cyan (CYNI), Calix (CALX), Kforce (KFRC), GigOptix (GIG), TripAdvisor (TRIP)
NEWSPAPERS/WEBSITES
Microsoft (MSFT) says it's not censoring China searches, Reuters reports
Toyota (TM) recalling 1.9M Prius vehicles to fix software problem, Bloomberg reports
Softbank (SFTBF) CEO still after a U.S. acquisition, WSJ reports
Softbank (SFTBF) CEO says 'no comment' on rumors Sprint (S) is looking to buy T-Mobile (TMUS), Reuters reports
Twitter (TWTR) testing profile redesign, Mashable reports
Detroit automakers want to clear inventory without hurting pricing, WSJ reports
Ashland (ASH) receives bids for specialty chemicals company, Bloomberg reports
Boeing (BA) says a China assembly plant an option, Bloomberg reports
Coca-Cola (KO) Israel in monopoly violations investigation, Globes reports
SYNDICATE
Atmos Energy (ATO) 8M share Secondary priced at $44.00
Canadian Solar (CSIQ) 2.778M share Secondary priced at $36.00
Eagle Pharmaceuticals (EGRX) 3.35M share IPO priced at $15.00
Flexion (FLXN) 5M share IPO priced at $13.00
Graphic Packaging (GPK) files to sell 30M common shares for holders
Ironwood (IRWD) 13.7M share Secondary priced at $12.75
Ophthotech (OPHT) 2.29M share Secondary priced at $31.50
Paragon Shipping (PRGN) files to sell common stock
PennyMac (PMT) enters into $200M equity distribution agreement with JMP Securities
Talmer Bancorp (TLMR) 15.555M share IPO priced at $13.00
Tecnoglass (TGLS) files to sell 31.26M ordinary shares for holders
Average:
0
Your rating: None
* The House on Tuesday approved a bill to extend the federal government's borrowing authority with no strings attached, after Republican leaders dropped all policy demands to avoid a market-rattling confrontation.
$SODA ~ SodaStream Schedules the Release of its Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2013 Financial Results for Wednesday, February 26, 2014
PR Newswire AIRPORT CITY, Israel, Feb. 12, 2014 AIRPORT CITY, Israel, Feb. 12, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- SodaStream International, Ltd. (NASDAQ: SODA) announced today that it intends to release its financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2013 on Wednesday, February 26, 2014 at approximately 7:30 a.m. ET, to be followed by a conference call at 8:30 a.m. ET. The conference call will be broadcast live at the Company's IR website, http://sodastream.investorroom.com. An online archive of the webcast will be available beginning approximately 30 minutes after the call.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121107/NY07412LOGO) Listeners should login at least 20 minutes before the conference call is scheduled to begin in order to register, as well as download and install any necessary audio software. About SodaStream SodaStream is the world's leading manufacturer and distributor of home beverage carbonation systems which enable consumers to easily transform ordinary tap water instantly into carbonated soft drinks and sparkling water. Soda makers offer a highly differentiated and innovative solution to consumers of bottled and canned carbonated soft drinks and sparkling water. Our products are environmentally friendly, cost effective, promote health and wellness, and are customizable and fun to use. In addition, our products offer convenience by eliminating the need to carry bottles home from the supermarket, to store bottles at home or to regularly dispose of empty bottles. Our products are available at more than 60,000 retail stores in 45 countries around the world, including over 17,000 retail stores in the United States. For more information, visit http://www.sodastream.com SodaStream IR App To download SodaStream's IR app, with access to SEC documents, press releases, videos, audiocasts and more, please visit http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/soda-ir/id524423001?mt=8 for your iPhone/iPad, or https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.theirapp.soda for your Android mobile device. Forward Looking Statement This release contains forward-looking statements, which express the current beliefs and expectations of management. Such statements are based on management's current beliefs and expectations and involve a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause our future results, performance or achievements to differ significantly from the results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include risks relating to: our ability to expand into our target markets, including the United States; our ability to continue to develop or maintain our presence in retail networks; our ability to develop and implement production and operating infrastructure to effectively support our growth; the success of our marketing campaigns and media spending in terms of increased sales or increased product and brand name awareness; our ability to maintain our customer base in markets where we have an established presence; the risks associated with our reliance on exclusive arrangements for the distribution of our home beverage carbonation systems and consumables in each of the markets in which we use third-party distributors; our ability to compete effectively with other companies which currently offer, or may offer in the future, competing products; potential product liability claims if any component of our home beverage carbonation systems is misused; our ability to protect our intellectual property rights; our being found to have a dominant position in certain markets which may place limits on our ability operate; risks associated with our being subject to fluctuations in currency exchange rates; our potential exposure to greater than anticipated tax liabilities; our products being subject to extensive governmental regulation in the markets in which we operate; adverse conditions in the global economy which could negatively impact our customers' demand for our products; and other factors detailed in documents we file from time to time with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements in this release are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Contact: Yonah Lloyd Chief Corporate Development and Communications Officer Phone: +972-3-976-2462 yonahl@sodastream.com SOURCE SodaStream International, Ltd. /Web site: http://www.sodastream.com (END) Dow Jones Newswires February 12, 2014 07:00 ET (12:00 GMT) 021214 12:00 -- GMT Story ID: FEB122014_DJB_01Yl Keywords: ALL COMPANY NEWS, CONSUMER NON-CYCLICAL Symbols: SODA
Pre Market Movers
Top Gaining Stocks
Price %Change
MRIN Marin Software In... 13.10 32.86%
NURO Neurometrix Inc. ... 3.24 20.00%
CNVR Convera Corp. 24.90 14.54%
LIVE Livedeal Inc. 6.30 9.31%
ETRM Enteromedics Inc.... 2.33 7.87%
HNSN Hansen Medical In... 2.70 7.57%
GOMO Sungy Mobile Ltd ... 22.50 6.84%
PEK Market Vector Chi... 32.00 6.70%
DVA Davita Healthcare... 68.50 6.48%
MGIC Magic Software En... 9.00 5.63%
TRMB Trimble Navigatio... 34.31 5.18%
BLRX Biolinerx Ltd. 3.06 4.79%
SN Sanchez Energy 31.02 4.59%
IEP Icahn Enterprises... 115.00 4.34%
GALE Galena Biopharma ... 5.39 3.85%
ING Ing Groep N.v. Ad... 14.45 3.66%
FOSL Fossil Group Inc.... 121.20 3.63%
OC Owens Corning 41.00 3.17%
AU Anglogold Ashanti... 17.10 3.01%
DE Deere & Co. 90.00 2.90%
Top Losing Stocks
Price %Change
PRGN Paragon Shipping ... 6.50 -11.20%
KOG Kodiak Oil & Gas ... 10.40 -8.37%
FEYE Fireeye Inc. 73.24 -6.11%
GPK Graphic Packaging... 9.78 -4.31%
OPTT Ocean Power Techn... 3.40 -3.74%
STV China Digital TV ... 2.99 -3.55%
CLNE Clean Energy Fuel... 9.50 -3.26%
NOK Nokia Corp. Ads 7.16 -3.11%
SBS Companhia de Sane... 9.92 -2.75%
SEB Seaboard Corp. 2,467.33 -2.48%
BWP Boardwalk Pipelin... 13.11 -2.38%
OXGN Oxigene Inc. 2.70 -2.17%
GMCR Green Mountain Co... 116.94 -2.06%
AMZN Amazon.com Inc. 354.43 -2.03%
FDX Fedex Corp. 130.55 -1.95%
YOKU Youku Tudou 28.75 -1.91%
VJET voxeljet AG 35.75 -1.89%
NVO Novo Nordisk A/s ... 42.25 -1.79%
INO Inovio Pharmaceut... 2.82 -1.74%
WU Western Union 15.62 -1.64%
Read more at http://thestockmarketwatch.com/markets/pre-market/#A5J24J8mjKJoCGie.99
data:
MBA Purchase Applications
[Report][Bullet7:00 AM ET
James Bullard Speaks
8:35 AM ET
Atlanta Fed Business Inflation Expectations
[Bullet10:00 AM ET
EIA Petroleum Status Report
[djStar]10:30 AM ET
10-Yr Note Auction
[Bullet1:00 PM ET
Treasury Budget
[Report][djStar]2:00 PM ET
futures flat
good morning
I love that play!
not sure what I'll do today if anything...
$GOGO $WUBA $RAX $ARUN $SODA
hi there pal!
$SODA ~ yes, they love the skinny girl news fr yesterday
$41.10 was key....no I'm not out....did not average down....
I love it....I'm never selling....
kidding of course!
thank you sweetie....and you're hitting them as well I see...
Frontrunning:
Frustrated by Karzai, U.S. Shifts Afghanistan Exit Plans (WSJ)
Yellen Testimony Guide From Payrolls Report to Emerging Markets (BBG)
Gold hits three-month high, shares up ahead of Yellen (Reuters)
Tightfisted New Owners Put Heinz on Diet (WSJ)
Senator describes "gruesome" bin Laden photos (Reuters)
More reasons for the ongoing economic contraction: U.S. Winter Storm Seen Spreading Snow, Sleet Across South (BBG)
Barclays Cuts Up to 12,000 Jobs as Quarterly Profit Falls (BBG)
Boeing Considering 787-Size Medium-Range Jetliners (WSJ)
AOL Chief Apologizes for ‘Distressed Babies’ Comment (BBG)
U.S. Looks to Target American With Drone (WSJ)
Volkswagen Car Sales Rise in January (WSJ)
London Underground Union Suspends Strike Tonight Following Talks (BBG)
Dartmouth Applications Drop 14% After Tumultuous Year of Protests (BBG)
Overnight Media Digest
WSJ
* The U.S. military has revised plans to withdraw troops from Afghanistan to allow the White House to wait until President Hamid Karzai leaves office before completing a security pact and settling on a post-2014 U.S. troop presence, officials said.
* Most employers won't face a fine next year if they fail to offer workers health insurance, the Obama administration said Monday, in the latest big delay of the health-law rollout. The Treasury Department, in regulations outlining the Affordable Care Act, said employers with 50 to 99 full-time workers won't have to comply with the law's requirement to provide insurance or pay a fee until 2016.
* House Republican leaders tried Monday to build support for raising the federal debt limit by linking it to a reversal of planned cuts in some military pensions, working to overcome vocal opposition from conservatives in hopes of bringing it to a vote Wednesday.
* 400 workers at H.J. Heinz Co's Idaho plant have become casualties in a cost-cutting campaign that is the talk of the food industry. Although Heinz had been considered one of the industry's leanest organizations, the Brazilian lead investors, private-equity firm 3G Capital, believe they have identified plenty of fat.
* Billionaire investor Carl Icahn gave up his fight Monday to force Apple Inc to boost its share repurchase program by $50 billion.
* Nokia, whose mobile-device business will soon be bought by Microsoft, plans to introduce this month a smartphone powered by a version of Google's Android mobile software, according to people familiar with the matter.
* KKR & Co is shuttering two funds for individual investors, a move that comes less than two years after the buyout firm launched them.
* The executive in charge of BlackBerry Ltd's instant-messaging tool, BBM, has left the company, creating a hole in one of the smartphone company's core offerings. Andrew Bocking, executive vice president in charge of BBM, "has made the decision to leave" the company, according to a BlackBerry spokeswoman.
* Rackspace Hosting Inc Chief Executive Lanham Napier stepped down from the Web infrastructure provider he led for nearly eight years, following a sharp slowdown last year that sank its stock.
* In a move to end misconceptions, General Motors Co said Chief Executive Mary Barra will be eligible for a $14.4 million pay package this year, a 60 percent increase over the compensation awarded to her predecessor Dan Akerson. The pay disclosure was in response to ongoing reports in both the mainstream media and on social websites accusing the Detroit auto maker of paying Barra less than Akerson.
* A leading bitcoin exchange Monday blamed a long-unresolved technical issue for its decision to abruptly halt customer withdrawals last week.
* The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is preparing to ease restrictions on swaps trading overseas, according to people familiar with the matter, a move that could shift some trading abroad as banks and other firms look for ways to circumvent tough U.S. rules.
FT
Billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn gave up on his proposal that Apple Inc spend $50 billion on share buybacks before the end of September after the shareholder advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services Inc recommended that investors vote against it.
UBS said it had put two Hong Kong-based bankers on leave as the lender investigates the appointment of Chinese banker with close connections to a potential Chinese corporate client.
Billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson's Virgin America, is closing in on an initial public offering after the U.S. carrier recorded its first profit since it was founded 10 years ago.
British and the Netherlands have filed a lawsuit for up to 556 billion Icelandic crowns ($4.85 billion) against Iceland's deposit insurance fund, reigniting a controversial dispute over the collapse of online lender Icesave during the financial crisis in 2008.
Chinese carmaker BYD, backed by Warren Buffett, will on Tuesday launch London's first ever all-electric taxi fleet, pulling ahead of rivals such as Nissan in the race to meet Mayor Boris Johnson's zero emission cabs rule by 2018.
NYT
* Mary Barra, chief executive of General Motors Co, will earn as much as $14.4 million in compensation during her first year on the job, the company said on Monday.
* What was once the world's largest Bitcoin exchange, Mt. Gox, appeared near collapse on Monday, the latest symbol of the woes facing early players in the world of virtual currencies. A few days after cutting off withdrawals for customers, Mt. Gox said on Monday that its problems were a result of a more fundamental flaw in the computer program that underlies Bitcoin.
* Kohlberg Kravis Roberts is closing two mutual funds less than two years after it started them, a setback for the private equity giant as it looks to attract smaller investors.
* The court-appointed monitor in the Apple e-book price-fixing case can get back to work. A federal appellate court on Monday rejected Apple's request to stay the monitor, Michael Bromwich, a Washington lawyer, from doing any more work pending the outcome of its challenge to a judge's earlier order appointing the monitor in the first place.
* According to a lawsuit filed against the Justice Department on Monday, the crucial details of the $13 billion settlement deal with JPMorgan Chase were for the government's eyes only. The lawsuit filed by Better Markets, a nonprofit group critical of Wall Street, challenged the constitutionality of the deal, a landmark settlement stemming from accusations that JPMorgan overstated the quality of mortgage securities it sold before the financial crisis.
* Goldman Sachs Group on Monday named Ashok Varadhan as co-head of the securities division, a significant promotion that has in the past paved the way to the bank's upper echelons for other top-ranking executives.
* After six months of urging Apple Inc to pay out more money to shareholders, the billionaire Carl Icahn dropped his effort on Monday. His decision came after strong opposition from other big investors and an influential shareholder advisory firm. Still, Icahn may have prevailed in the end anyway, as Apple continued to emphasize returning money to investors.
* More people have gone to work during the past three months than at any time in decades. Those same three months have seen fewer jobs created than during any similar stretch in more than a year.
Canada
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
* A new strain of computer malware infecting payment card terminals in restaurant and gas station has compromised nearly 700 credit cards in Canada, a computer security firm says.
* The Conservative government is scrapping Canada's decades-old immigrant investor program in the 2014 budget, ending a path to citizenship that has been criticized for allowing foreigners to buy their way into this country without generating sufficient long-term benefit.
Reports in the business section:
* A wide array of manufacturing groups and companies is urging the federal government to reach a free-trade agreement with South Korea, warning that Canada is being beaten by rivals in the race to do business with the fast-growing country.
NATIONAL POST
* Toyota Motor Corp has just announced it would close its manufacturing plant in Melbourne, Australia, ending more than five decades of building cars in the country. On the heels of similar decisions by Ford Motor Co and General Motors Co, it means by 2017 Australia will no longer have an automobile manufacturing industry.
* Canada's first Green member of a provincial legislature has shaken up the British Columbia anti-pipeline sector after expressing what appeared to be tacit support for a $25 billion refinery that would be built at the western edge of the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline.
FINANCIAL POST
* Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper remains relatively unperturbed about the drawn-out Keystone XL pipeline review, maintaining its approval is "inevitable." As far as he is concerned, history and economics carry far more weight in Canada-United States relations than whoever happens to occupy the White House at a given moment.
* The Haisla First Nation is urging Ottawa to delay a decision on Enbridge Inc's $7.9-billion Northern Gateway pipeline, warning that a hasty approval "would be illegal" in the absence of "meaningful" consultation with aboriginal groups.
China
SHANGHAI SECURITIES NEWS
- China will strengthen guidance for industries suffering from industrial overcapacity, encouraging outbound investment to tap offshore demand.
- The Shanghai government has set the development of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone as a top policy priority for 2014.
- The ongoing antimonopoly investigation into Qualcomm Inc will create opportunities for local companies to catch up in technology and lower purchase cost in negotiation.
CHINA DAILY
- More antitrust probes are in the pipeline, said an official with the State Council's anti-corruption body, and regulators will add staff to handle the new investigations.
SHANGHAI DAILY
- Local airlines are warning passengers not to use third-party mobile apps to check in or get boarding passes. Air China and China Eastern both warned of apps such as those developed by VeryZhun, Lvmama and Qunar.com, saying the apps infringe on the carrier's rights and are not supported.
- The Shanghai government will more tightly regulate the online finance sector as state media expresses concerns that high-yielding wealth management products like Alibaba's Yu-ebao are risky.
Britain
The Telegraph
BANKS FACE NEW INDUSTRY BENCHMARKS
British banks will be benchmarked against one another other to track their performance, with lenders expected to publish figures ranging from the number of staff that make whistle-blowing complaints, to how many employees are in professional training.
MPS RAP SPIRALLING SELLAFIELD COSTS
The costs of decommissioning and re-processing at the Sellafield nuclear site are soaring to "astonishing" levels, with latest estimates putting the figure at more than 70 billion pounds ($114.79 billion), according to a committee of Members of Parliament.
VODAFONE BOSS ISSUES WARNING TO US RIVALS
Vittorio Colao, chief executive of Vodafone, has sounded a warning to American mobile operators eyeing the European market, telling them that they are unlikely to do a better job than the current players.
IRISH EX-TYCOON DEFENDS ANGLO-IRISH STAKE
Ireland's one-time richest man on Monday defended his decision to keep gambling on the success of the now defunct Anglo Irish Bank despite plunging share prices.
The Guardian
MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES 'COST UK 70 BLN STG A YEAR', CLAIMS THINKTANK
Mental health issues are costing Britain 70 billion pounds a year, the west's leading economic thinktank said on Monday, as it urged the government to help those with depression, stress and anxiety into work.
The Times
NEWSPAPER 'LEAK' FEARS FORCE WARY BARCLAYS TO PUBLISH PROFITS EARLY
Barclays rushed out its profits numbers a day ahead of schedule yesterday amid fears that price-sensitive information had been leaked.
BRITAIN SENDS IN LAWYERS TO REGAIN 3 BLN STG FROM ICELAND
The British and Dutch authorities are suing Iceland's tiny depositor lifeboat fund for a sum equal to two thirds of the island nation's GDP.
GERTLER LOAN POSES MORE QUESTIONS FOR GLENCORE
Glencore Xstrata is under pressure to explain its links to a controversial businessman after details of an new offshore loan emerged.
The Independent
GATWICK POSTS MONTHLY RISE IN PASSENGER NUMBERS AS BRITONS HEAD EAST
Gatwick handled 6.6 percent more passengers in January compared to a year earlier as Brits headed east to escape the wet weather.
NPOWER EMPLOYS MEDITATION GURUS TO HELP STAFF RELAX AFTER VAST JOB CUTS
RWE Npower employs seven 'meditation gurus' to help staff deal with stress after the energy firm announced it would axe 1,400 jobs as part of a major business overhaul.
Fly On The Wall 7:00 AM Market Snapshot
ECONOMIC REPORTS
NFIB small business optimism index for January at 7:30--consensus 93.8
Wholesale trade inventories for December at 10:00--consensus 0.6%
ANALYST RESEARCH
Upgrades
Buckeye Partners (BPL) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup
Burlington Stores (BURL) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley
CenturyLink (CTL) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Macquarie
Finisar (FNSR) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies
L'Oreal (LRLCY) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS
ONEOK Partners (OKS) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup
Primerica (PRI) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Keefe Bruyette
Ralph Lauren (RL) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at Atlantic Equities
Reliance Steel (RS) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill
Steel Dynamics (STLD) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill
Tetra Technologies (TTI) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Raymond James
Downgrades
Advanced Photonix (API) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at B. Riley
Aircastle (AYR) downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley
Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley
Annie's (BNNY) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse
Apache (APA) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse
Atlas Air (AAWW) downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley
BG Group (BRGYY) downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley
Carbonite (CARB) downgraded to Perform from Outperform at Oppenheimer
Carnival (CCL) downgraded to Underperform from Hold at Jefferies
Grainger (GWW) downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman
Infoblox (BLOX) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Needham
Insperity (NSP) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Roth Capital
Post Properties (PPS) downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Raymond James
Qualys (QLYS) downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at Pacific Crest
Sohu.com (SOHU) downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley
TRI Pointe Homes (TPH) downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at JMP Securities
U.S. Steel (X) downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Citigroup
Initiations
AT&T (T) initiated with a Buy at Drexel Hamilton
Ashford Hospitality Prime (AHP) initiated with a Buy at SunTrust
Cypress Energy (CELP) initiated with an Outperform at Raymond James
Hilton Worldwide (HLT) initiated with a Positive at Susquehanna
OncoMed (OMED) initiated with a Buy at Mizuho
RSP Permian (RSPP) initiated with an Overweight at Barclays
The Inventure Group (SNAK) initiated with an Outperform at Wedbush
Verastem (VSTM) initiated with a Buy at Mizuho
Xilinx (XLNX) initiated with a Buy at MKM Partners
HOT STOCKS
Nestle (NSRGY), L'Oréal (LRLCY) boards unanimously approved sale of 48.5M shares
comScore (SCOR), Google (GOOG) partner to offer comScore vCE
Blount (BLT) said may report material weakness in Form 10-K, to consolidate North American lawn, garden blade ops
Rackspace (RAX) CEO Lanham Napier to retire, Chairman Graham Weston named CEO
ConAgra (CAG) said Ardent Mills transaction will be delayed, citing regulatory review
Cubic (CUB): FY12, FY13 financial statements cannot be relied upon, to be restated
EARNINGS
Companies that beat consensus earnings expectations last night and today include:
Huntsman (HUN), Proto Labs (PRLB), Dr. Reddy's Labs (RDY), Regal-Beloit (RBC), Owens & Minor (OMI), Markel (MKL), Flotek (FTK), Primerica (PRI), Waste Connections (WCN), Pioneer Natural (PXD), Danaos (DAC), CAI International (CAP)
Companies that missed consensus earnings expectations include:
Genesee & Wyoming (GWR), NGL Energy Partners (NGL), Masco (MAS), Forward Air (FWRD), Molina Healthcare (MOH), KapStone (KS), Wausau Paper (WPP)
Companies that matched consensus earnings expectations include:
Capstone Turbine (CPST), M/A-COM (MTSI), Immunomedics (IMMU), Rackspace (RAX), Qualys (QLYS)
NEWSPAPERS/WEBSITES
Goldman's (GS) Blankfein: Emerging markets stronger than in past, Bloomberg reports
Court denies Apple's (AAPL) request to sideline e-book monitor, NY Times reports
Barclays (BCS) to cut up to 12,000 jobs this year, BBC News reports
Boeing (BA) faces production issues for 787 Dreamliner, Reuters reports
Whitney Tilson takes stake in magicJack (CALL), Bloomberg reports
Sony's (SNE) PlayStation Vita to see North American release in spring, Engadget reports
Vodafone (VOD) CEO eyes strategic deals with $30B to $40B to spend, Reuters reports
KKR (KKR) closing two funds for individuals investors, WSJ reports
SYNDICATE
Aastrom (ASTM) files to sell 1.75M shares of common stock for holders
Atmos Energy (ATO) files to sell 8M shares of common stock
Canadian Solar (CSIQ) files to sell 2.6M shares; $100M convertible senior notes
Highwoods Properties (HIW) files to sell 3.62M shares for holders
Ironwood (IRWD) files to sell $150M in common stock
MacroGenics (MGNX) files to sell 2.5M shares for holders
MagneGas (MNGA) files to sell 5.6M shares for holders
Mattson (MTSN) 12.245M share Secondary priced at $2.45
Navios Maritime Partners (NMM) files to sell 5.5M common units for limited partners
Nephrogenex (NRX) 3.1M share IPO priced at $12.00
PTC Therapeutics (PTCT) files to sell $75M in common stock
Puma Biotechnology (PBYI) 980K share Secondary priced at $122.50
StealthGas (GASS) 3.4M share Secondary priced at $9.71
StoneMor Partners (STON) files to sell 1.8M common units for limited partners
Average:
0
Pre Market Movers
Top Gaining Stocks
Price %Change
CADX Cadence Pharmaceu... 14.01 26.56%
JNUG Direxion Daily Ju... 36.25 17.92%
SCOR comscore Inc. 31.99 15.07%
CEMP Cempra Inc. 13.25 13.44%
OGXI Oncogenex Pharmac... 12.99 7.44%
INVN Invensense Inc 20.96 7.05%
MGI Moneygram Interna... 19.77 6.23%
HUN Huntsman Corp. 23.35 5.51%
NUGT Direxion Daily Go... 44.25 5.36%
INO Inovio Pharmaceut... 2.87 5.13%
PVG Pretium Resources... 6.49 5.02%
PRLB Proto Labs Inc 85.00 4.68%
HMY Harmony Gold Mini... 2.95 4.24%
SSNI Silver Spring Net... 16.75 4.10%
S Sprint Corporatio... 8.00 4.03%
GALE Galena Biopharma ... 5.60 3.90%
ETE Energy Transfer E... 43.00 3.84%
SPNS Sapiens Internati... 7.38 3.80%
YINN Direxion Daily Ch... 21.37 3.74%
CGEN Compugen Ltd. 13.10 3.72%
Top Losing Stocks
Price %Change
BLOX Infoblox 21.79 -34.25%
BNNY Annies Inc 36.98 -11.59%
QLYS Qualys Inc. 25.73 -10.32%
RAX Rackspace Hosting... 36.25 -10.18%
CAG Conagra Foods Inc... 29.00 -6.60%
NMM Navios Maritime P... 17.05 -5.96%
CSIQ Canadian Solar In... 36.99 -5.44%
BCS Barclays Plc Ads ... 17.32 -4.89%
SWHC Smith & Wesson Ho... 12.25 -3.92%
ALU Alcatel-lucent Ad... 4.22 -3.43%
GRPN Groupon Inc. 10.73 -3.16%
EDZ Direxion Daily Em... 48.30 -3.09%
SOHU Sohu.com Inc. 69.50 -2.87%
X United States Ste... 25.02 -2.23%
PXD Pioneer Natural R... 183.00 -2.10%
VXX Barclays Bank Plc... 44.63 -1.98%
PRAN Prana Biotechnolo... 8.97 -1.86%
SPWR Sunpower Corporat... 30.70 -1.35%
PBYI Puma Biotechnolog... 123.75 -1.21%
AZC Augusta Resource ... 2.93 -0.68%
Read more at http://thestockmarketwatch.com/markets/pre-market/#yG872GlaLh3o7I3v.99
data:
NFIB Small Business Optimism Index
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Janet Yellen's Speaks
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Redbook
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JOLTS
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Janet Yellen Speaks
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Wholesale Trade
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Futures +57
good morning
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Frontrunning:
Yellen's first test (Reuters)
Let weak banks die, says eurozone super-regulator (FT)
Yellen, Carney Face Explaining Policy as Benchmarks Near (BBG)
Commerzbank Said Seeking Debt Buyers in $6.8 Billion Spain Exit (BBG)
Junk Yield Premiums Soar on China’s Looming First Default (BBG)
Millions Trapped in Health-Law Coverage Gap (WSJ)
Mandel Tops Best-Earning Hedge Funds for Clients in 2013 (BBG)
Swiss Brace for Sour EU Relations After Immigration Vote (BBG)
Detroit Bankruptcy Talks to Resume (WSJ)
Olympic Diva Shrugs Off Hotel Gripes to Sing Sochi’s Praises (BBG)
Toyota to stop making cars in Australia from 2017 (Reuters)
Alwaleed’s Kingdom Beats Buffett on Hidden Treasures (BBG)
Traders Crying Over Losses Missing HSBC’s Bargains (BBG)
How to save France (FT)
Overnight Media Digest
WSJ
* Since certain states declined to expand Medicaid, 4.8 million people had fallen into a coverage gap -- they earn too little to qualify for health-law subsidies to buy private insurance and yet aren't eligible for benefits under existing state programs.
* PG&E Corp said it will build opaque fences around critical transmission substations, including at the Metcalf subsidiary that was heavily damaged by gunmen firing from outside a chain-link fence last year.
* University of Missouri defensive lineman Michael Sam, the Southeastern Conference's reigning defensive player of the year, revealed he is gay to multiple media outlets Sunday and could be the first openly homosexual NFL player if he is drafted in May.
* Influential proxy-advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services Inc recommended that Apple Inc shareholders reject activist investor Carl Icahn's proposal that the iPhone maker buy back $50 billion of its stock.
* Federal and state officials are pushing emergency measures to get propane to people who need the gas to heat their homes beset by persistent frigid temperatures. The measures, which include extending working hours for truckers and ordering a pipeline company to prioritize shipments to areas with tight supplies, are meant to alleviate a propane crunch that has sent prices of the fuel to record highs.
* A Food and Drug Administration panel could soon help determine the fate of billions of dollars in pain drugs such as Advil and Aleve over the question of which ones pose a greater cardiac risk.
* Barclays Plc and the UK banking regulator have launched investigations into allegations that information about thousands of the bank's customers was stolen and sold to brokers.
* AOL Inc Chief Executive Tim Armstrong said on Saturday that the company would reverse a recent change to its 401(k) retirement plan and apologized for remarks used to explain the initial change.
* DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc is diversifying into children's books, creating a publishing unit that this year will issue titles based on such DreamWorks movies as "Kung Fu Panda" and "Madagascar."
* Sprint Corp officials are regrouping to decide whether trying to acquire smaller rival T-Mobile US Inc makes sense after antitrust officials expressed strong sentiments against a deal publicly, people familiar with the matter said.
* Canadian base-metal producer HudBay Minerals Inc Sunday announced a hostile bid to acquire the 84 percent stake of Augusta Resource Corp it doesn't already own, for about $325.6 million in stock to gain access to additional copper reserves.
* Airlines in the Asia-Pacific region will need 12,820 new airplanes valued at $1.9 trillion over the next 20 years, a forecast by Boeing Co showed. The region will account for 36 percent of global aircraft deliveries over the next two decades, with three-fourths of the new planes aimed at boosting capacity, said Randy Tinseth, Boeing's vice president for marketing.
* Canada's International Forest Products Ltd agreed Sunday to acquire Tolleson Ilim Lumber Co from Russia's Ilim Timber Continental SA for $180 million, in a deal that would make it one of the five largest lumber producers in North America based on production capacity.
* As Argentina struggles to stave off a second debt default in 13 years, two U.S. hedge funds, Gramercy Funds Management LLC and Elliott Management Corp, are playing central but opposing roles in the country's efforts to untangle itself from the previous crisis.
* Most private-equity firms are having to raise funds by sending executives around the world to drum up interest from investors after the Volcker rule forced private-equity firms out from under the wing of banks that once provided them with funding.
* Hybrid Tech Holdings LLC, one of the bidders for control of failed luxury car maker Fisker Automotive Inc, has hired a former top Ford Motor Co executive to orchestrate the restart of operations if it wins. The Chinese company said it retained Martin Leach to bring Fisker out of mothballed status.
FT
Billionaire investor George Soros's Quantum Endowment hedge fund had its second-best year on record in dollar terms in 2013, when it picked up $5.5 billion.
Daniele Nouy, the euro zone's new chief banking regulator after taking over the Single Supervisory Mechanism, has warned that some of the bloc's lenders have no future and should be allowed to die.
Barclays and Britain's Financial Conduct Authority have launched an investigation into the alleged theft of confidential information about 27,000 of the lender's customers.
Britain's Energy Secretary Ed Davey has written a letter to regulators saying profit margins of big energy companies' gas supply units are too high, and suggesting that dominant player British Gas may need to be broken up.
Russia is planning to crack down on Bitcoin, having warned that those who use "cryptocurrencies" are breaking the law, making good on its promise of new measures to curb the virtual currency.
NYT
* A confidential email has revealed that a top Chinese regulator directly asked Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase's chief executive, for a "favor" to hire a young job applicant. The applicant, a family friend of the regulator, now works at JPMorgan.
* The telecommunications, media and Internet industries will be watching to see how Tom Wheeler, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), responds to last month's federal appeals court decision that invalidated the rules created by the FCC in 2011 to maintain an open Internet.
* Bill Keller, a columnist at the New York Times and its former executive editor, will leave the paper to become editor in chief of The Marshall Project, a nonprofit journalism start-up focused on the American criminal justice system.
* Tim Armstrong, Chief Executive of AOL Inc, did an about-face on Saturday, reversing an unpopular change in the media company's employee benefits program and apologizing for publicly singling out two families' health care issues as a cause of those changes.
* Barclays Plc and British regulators are looking into the possible theft of personal data concerning at least 2,000 clients after a British newspaper report.
* Proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services told clients on Sunday that they should vote against Carl Icahn's proposal calling for a $50 billion Apple Inc stock buyback, giving the iPhone maker a notable new ally in its attempts to beat back.
* Startups and much larger companies are taking increasing advantage of a 2012 law that allows them to file for public offerings while slowing the release of financial information.
* Morgan Stanley does not often appoint new members to its operating committee, which made up of the top echelon of the firm's leadership. On Friday, it added four new executives to its most senior group of managers.
Canada
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
* Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is set to unveil on Tuesday a final phase of belt-tightening in a budget that is a prologue to balancing the books just ahead of an expected 2015 federal election, a feat the Tories hope will generate sufficient surplus cash to offer tax cuts and other inducements to voters.
* Wages are set to take center stage in a tough bargaining climate this year, as unionized workers push for better compensation after seeing pay increases ebb to a 16-year low.
Reports in the business section:
* After years of costly mistakes, Barrick Gold Corp and Kinross Gold Corp have ushered in an era of austerity in the gold sector, to be seen when Canadian miners report earnings this week. Investors are expecting gold producers to reduce their bullion reserves, write down more assets and record lower profits.
NATIONAL POST
* An Ontario university allowed a non-Muslim to enroll in the Huron College course, The Muslim Voice: Islamic Preaching, Public Speaking and Worship, but then kicked him out because they said they didn't want to open the course to auditors.
* A Canadian businessman who served two and a half years of a nine-year prison sentence in Cuba on charges of bribery, tax evasion and "activities damaging to the economy" has abruptly returned to Canada. Sarkis Yacoubian, president of Tri-Star Caribbean import company, was expelled from Cuba and so, is not subject to transfer conditions that would require him to serve the rest of his sentence in Canada.
FINANCIAL POST
* Most of the big North American gold miners report year-end results this week, and, thanks in part to the reserve issue, they could be a huge mess.
* Law firm Heenan Blaikie's sudden demise is a much-needed wake-up call for Canadian law firms, which are chasing too little high-dollar business.
China
SHANGHAI SECURITIES NEWS
- The People's Bank of China has signalled that it will take a more active approach to supplying liquidity to the interbank market in its latest policy statement published on Saturday. The central bank confounded the market twice last June and December when it allowed dramatic rises in money rates, roiling global financial markets.
- China CEFC Energy Co Ltd, a private Chinese oil trade firm, and its Shanghai unit have bought a combined stake of more than 5 percent stake in state-owned giant Sinochem International Corp - a major move by a private company to enter China's state manipulated energy sector.
CHINA SECURITIES JOURNAL
- China's market for eco-friendly cars should see fresh momentum in 2014 after the government announced policy measures to support the sector, analysts say.
- Local governments should try to ensure that China's latest urbanisation drive does not translate into further rises for the country's already sky-high property prices, this major official financial newspaper said in a commentary.
SECURITIES TIMES
- Top listed housing firm China Vanke Co Ltd saw its January sales climb 45 percent to 27.65 billion yuan ($4.6 billion), a further sign of a robust property market.
CHINA DAILY
- China was likely to have become the world's largest trader in goods for the first time last year, overtaking the United States. The milestone underscores the country's steady expansion in foreign trade, particularly since the 2008 global financial crisis.
SHANGHAI DAILY
- Just hours after the official China Central Television (CCTV) accused police of doing nothing about the rampant sex trade in Dongguan, known as China's "sex city", 67 people were detained and 12 entertainment venues shut down late on Sunday.
PEOPLE'S DAILY
- The recent visit to Russia by China's President Xi Jinping have laid solid foundations for the two countries to further develop their bilateral relations in 2014, a commentary by this mouthpiece of the ruling Communist Party of China said.
Britain
The Telegraph
VODAFONE IN 5.8 BLN STG BID FOR SPAIN'S ONO
Vodafone has moved a step closer to acquiring Spanish cable company Ono after tabling a 7 billion euro ($9.53 billion) takeover bid as it attempts to revive its ailing European business.
NEW BANKING WATCHDOG TO BE HEADED BY OUTSIDER
Richard Lambert, the former head of the Confederation of British Industry, is expected to call on Tuesday for the new professional standards body to be led by a chairman from outside the banking fraternity.
The Guardian
BARCLAYS BLASTED OVER 'CATASTROPHIC' THEFT OF THOUSANDS OF CUSTOMER FILES
Barclays is under scrutiny by regulators and could face a hefty fine after thousands of confidential customer files were stolen in a data breach described as catastrophic by an adviser to Britain's business secretary, Vince Cable.
CITY BONUS ROW REIGNITES WITH BARCLAYS TO ADMIT £2BN IN PAYMENTS
Controversy over bonuses will be re-ignited this week when Barclays admits it paid its staff more than last year, fuelling predictions that the amount of bonuses paid out across the Square Mile since the 2008 crisis could soon hit 80 billion pounds.
The Times
ED DAVEY LEADS ATTACK ON GAS AND ELECTRICITY PROVIDERS
Ed Davey, Britain's Energy Secretary, has accused the Big Six gas suppliers of boasting an average profit margin three times higher than that of electricity companies, reserving particular ire for the market dominance of British Gas.
CROSSRAIL SEEKS BETTER RETURN ON PROPERTY
The company building the east-west rail line across London is seeking to cash in on the capital's rising property market in an attempt to make up a potential funding shortfall.
Fly On The Wall 7:00 AM Market Snapshot
ECONOMIC REPORTS
No domestic economic reports of note are scheduled.
ANALYST RESEARCH
Upgrades
AkzoNobel (AKZOY) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup
American Express (AXP) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley
Bloomin' Brands (BLMN) upgraded to Strong Buy from Outperform at Raymond James
Bristol-Myers (BMY) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at BMO Capital
Bristow Group (BRS) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at William Blair
Casella Waste (CWST) upgraded to Buy from Hold at KeyBanc
Cheniere Energy (LNG) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse
Cinemark (CNK) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan
CommVault (CVLT) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at JMP Securities
Diamond Offshore (DO) upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at FBR Capital
DineEquity (DIN) upgraded to Strong Buy from Outperform at Raymond James
FMC Technologies (FTI) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Raymond James
Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) upgraded to Positive from Neutral at Susquehanna
Ingram Micro (IM) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Brean Capital
JPMorgan (JPM) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Societe Generale
LabCorp (LH) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank
Legg Mason (LM) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Keefe Bruyette
Liquidity Services (LDDT) upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital
Mead Johnson (MJN) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo
Meredith (MDP) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup
Progressive Waste (BIN) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Canaccord
Red Robin (RRGB) upgraded to Buy from Underperform at BofA/Merrill
Red Robin (RRGB) upgraded to Strong Buy from Outperform at Raymond James
St. Jude Medical (STJ) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Stifel
St. Jude Medical (STJ) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at William Blair
Statoil (STO) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley
Sun Hydraulics (SNHY) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at RW Baird
Synageva (GEVA) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan
T-Mobile (TMUS) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays
Urban Outfitters (URBN) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Brean Capital
Downgrades
ArcelorMittal (MT) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at BofA/Merrill
Bally Technologies (BYI) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Janney Capital
FMC Technologies (FTI) downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at William Blair
Fairway Group (FWM) downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at BofA/Merrill
M.D.C. Holdings (MDC) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse
Monster Worldwide (MWW) downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at FBR Capital
National Fuel (NFG) downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at BMO Capital
Initiations
American Capital Senior Floating (ACSF) initiated with a Buy at Deutsche Bank
American Capital Senior Floating (ACSF) initiated with a Neutral at Citigroup
American Capital Senior Floating (ACSF) initiated with an Outperform at Keefe Bruyette
Aratana Therapeutics (PETX) initiated with an Overweight at Barclays
Cypress Energy (CELP) initiated with a Buy at Stifel
FireEye (FEYE) initiated with an Outperform at Wells Fargo
Rocket Fuel (FUEL) initiated with a Buy at Goldman
HOT STOCKS
Toyota (TM) to end production in Australia by the end of 2017
James River Coal (JRCC) to explore strategic alternatives
Barclays (BCS) acknowledged security breach reported by Mail on Sunday
Duke Energy (DUK) pledged to take care of Dan River, surrounding areas, continues to address coal ash release in Eden, NC
Boeing (BA) sees $1.9T 20-year market for new airplanes in Asia Pacific
LinkedIn (LNKD) killing Intro app, Slidecast
Deutsche Telekom (DTEGY) acquired remaining shares of T-Mobile Czech Republic
Hasbro's (HAS) cost savings initiative targets $100M in annual savings by 2015
EARNINGS
Companies that beat consensus earnings expectations last night and today include:
SouFun (SFUN), Sohu.com (SOHU), Changyou.com (CYOU)
Companies that missed consensus earnings expectations include:
Hasbro (HAS), CNA Financial (CNA), Boardwalk Pipeline (BWP)
Companies that matched consensus earnings expectations include:
pSivida (PSDV)
NEWSPAPERS/WEBSITES
ISS recommends Apple (AAPL) shareholders reject Icahn (IEP) proposal, NYT reports
Sprint (S) rethinks bid for T-Mobile (TMUS) amidst regulatory opposition, WSJ reports
Sony's (SNE) troubles could lead to breakup suggested by Loeb, Bloomberg reports
Bebe Stores (BEBE) exploring sale, Reuters reports
Toyota (TM) near $1B deal to end U.S. criminal probe, WSJ reports
AOL (AOL) CEO apologizes and reinstates former benefits policy, WSJ reports
Nestle (NSRGY) said to explore reducing its $30B L'Oreal (LRLCY) stake, Bloomberg reports
Canadian PM Harper: Keystone XL pipeline approval 'inevitable,' Bloomberg reports
NBCUniversal (CMCSA), WWE (WWE) considering separation, NY Post reports
BARRON’S
Nielsen (NLSN) shares could rise over 40
AmTrust Financial (AFSI) book value merits scrutiny
Capital Federal (CFFN) could produce 15% returns this year
Wendy's (WEN) could reduce store ownership to 10%
Twitter (TWTR) could continue to fall
Texas Industries (TXI) holders can stay with Martin Marietta (MLM)
AT&T (T) Skechers (SKX) look undervalued
SYNDICATE
Tecogen (TGEN) files to sell $5M of common stock
eOn Communications (EONC) files to sell 606,140 shares of common for holders
Average:
0
Your rating: None
Pre Market Movers
Top Gaining Stocks
Price %Change
OMER Omeros Corporatio... 17.54 48.39%
AMAP Autonavi Holdings... 21.25 28.48%
HWG Hallwood Group In... 12.35 26.93%
PLUG Plug Power Inc. 3.60 16.13%
SMT Smart Technologie... 3.49 14.43%
YELP Yelp 100.00 11.84%
KRG Kite Realty Group... 6.80 10.57%
SFUN Soufun Holdings 85.00 8.29%
RVLT Revolution Lighti... 3.20 7.02%
CGEN Compugen Ltd. 12.25 6.71%
BLDP Ballard Power Sys... 2.18 6.34%
JNUG Direxion Daily Ju... 28.84 6.15%
DECK Deckers Outdoor C... 85.35 5.10%
KNDI Kandi Technologie... 13.67 4.83%
MGEE Mge Energy Inc 38.62 4.45%
NBG National Bank of ... 5.16 3.82%
FUEL Rocket Fuel Inc. ... 52.90 3.79%
FEYE Fireeye Inc. 73.40 3.77%
CREE Cree Inc. 61.49 3.61%
LIVE Livedeal Inc. 17.87 3.59%
Top Losing Stocks
Price %Change
SOYB Teucrium Soybean ... 21.12 -8.41%
PRAN Prana Biotechnolo... 9.17 -7.56%
SOHU Sohu.com Inc. 67.00 -6.32%
ARQL Arqule Inc. 2.12 -5.36%
BWP Boardwalk Pipelin... 22.80 -5.35%
DY Dycom Industries ... 25.39 -4.66%
BDSI Biodelivery Scien... 7.90 -4.36%
QCOM Qualcomm Inc. 71.21 -4.30%
WHZ Whiting Usa Trust... 13.31 -4.18%
ATHX Athersys Inc. 3.65 -3.69%
MT Arcelormittal 16.68 -3.42%
NOK Nokia Corp. Ads 7.40 -3.39%
HAS Hasbro Inc. 48.50 -3.17%
UNG United States Nat... 22.90 -3.05%
GWPH GW Pharmaceutical... 60.05 -2.91%
IRBT irobot Corporatio... 36.54 -2.90%
S Sprint Corporatio... 7.80 -2.74%
BSBR Banco Santander B... 4.75 -2.46%
ENDP Endo Health Solut... 67.79 -2.45%
ATVI Activision Blizza... 19.21 -2.19%
Read more at http://thestockmarketwatch.com/markets/pre-market/#7b2E3cT8gQCay8Rq.99