Replies to post #307687 on $Stock*Shop*Charts*News*Option$

[Stock Lobster]

WSJ: Small-Cap's Winning Streak at 5

By KRISTINA PETERSON
FEBRUARY 16, 2010, 6:09 P.M. ET

Small-capitalization stocks marched upward, as the dollar dropped and rising commodity prices boosted the energy sector.

Small-caps, considered riskier due to their higher volatility and lower cash reserves, didn't climb as steeply as their larger counterparts. Still, the two benchmark small-cap indexes are both up more than 5% over their five-day winning streak.

Tuesday, the Russell 2000 index of small-capitalization stocks gained 10.12 points, or 1.7%, to 620.84, its biggest gain since Jan. 19.

The Standard & Poor's SmallCap 600 index gained 4.92 points, or 1.5%, to 328.97, its highest close since Jan. 27.

Gains in small-caps were bound more closely to rising commodity prices and U.S. economic data. The energy sector soared as crude-oil prices shot above $77 a barrel.

While heartened by the brighter economic data, investors said the rise in small-cap materials and energy is part of a broader shift toward riskier sectors. Safer sectors, including health care, posted smaller gains Tuesday.

The increase in economic activity "has us moving more towards the riskier trades so that would benefit basic materials, energy and financial services," said Gerry Sparrow, president of Sparrow Capital Management. "It's sustainable," he said. "I think, politically, things have settled down in Washington and small businesses and small-cap companies feel as though there's more certainty than a year ago."

The small-cap telecommunications sector, comprising only five companies, jumped, led by Neutral Tandem, which connects callers from different wireless carriers. The company climbed $1.23, or 8.1%, to $16.41, despite missing earnings estimates by a penny. But Neutral Tandem projected 2010 revenue in line with analysts' expectations, announced a new ethernet-exchange service and plans to buy back $25 million in stock.

Small-cap energy stocks posted the biggest gains. Oil and gas explorer PetroQuest Energy rose 32 cents, or 6.1%, to 5.58. Stone Energy, an independent oil and natural-gas company, climbed 90 cents, or 5.6%, to 16.90. Both are traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

Health-care stocks lagged behind. Health-care provider MedCath dropped 32 cents, or 4.4%, to 7.02. Cambrex, which makes products to help develop small molecule therapeutics, slid 13 cents, or 3%, to 4.18, on the NYSE.

Clean-energy company Hoku Scientific declined nine cents, or 3.8%, to 2.26, after co-founder Dustin Shindo announced he will step down from the Honolulu company's helm at the end of March, citing personal reasons. Chief Operating Officer Scott Paul will replace Mr. Shindo on April 1, with Director Wei Xia assuming the chairman's post.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals slid 87 cents, or 9.2%, to 8.56, despite announcing a partnership agreement with large-cap U.K. pharmaceutical AstraZeneca. Analysts praised the agreement between South San Francisco, Calif., Rigel and AstraZeneca to develop a product to treat rheumatoid arthritis, but investors already may have priced the deal into the stock. AstraZeneca edged down one cent, or less than 1%, to 43.93, on the NYSE.

Spartan Motors climbed 28 cents, or 4.8%, to 6.15, after Spartan Motors Chassis, a unit of the Charlotte, Mich., company, received its largest order ever from China for 22 fire-truck chassis from the Beijing Fire Department. The chassis will be delivered in the second and third quarters.

The board of Zygo, which makes and distributes specialty optical instruments, unanimously rejected an unsolicited $169.4 million takeover offer from II-VI, an engineered materials and components manufacturer. Zygo said the Middlefield, Conn., company isn't for sale and that it is in the best interest of shareholders to allow its new chief executive, Chris Koliopoulos, to lead a stand-alone company. Zygo tumbled 99 cents, or 9.3%, to 9.61. II-VI rose 17 cents, or 0.6%, to 27.38.

Innospec gained 85 cents, or 8.9%, to 10.38, after reporting a narrowed loss in its fourth quarter. The U.K. maker of specialty-fuel additives and chemicals noted that fuel additives, its biggest segment, had a 10% rise in operating income.

Goldman Sachs took a gloomy look at casinos, predicting that high unemployment and a wave of new casinos is likely to weigh on gambling stocks. Penn National Gaming fell 40 cents, or 1.7%, to 22.94, after Goldman Sachs downgraded its rating on the Wyomissing, Pa., casino and racetrack operator to "conviction sell" from "neutral." Las Vegas regional casino operator Pinnacle Entertainment slid 33 cents, or 4.3%, to 7.27, on the NYSE, after being downgraded to "sell" from "neutral."

Mortgage insurer PMI Group slid nine cents, or 3.7%, to 2.32, on the NYSE, after its fourth-quarter loss widened as loss expenses outpaced a revenue gain. Although revenue rose by nearly a third, the Walnut Creek, Calif., company's losses and loss-adjustment expenses surged more, rising 38%.

Digital media-services provider DG FastChannel jumped 3.95, or 14%, to 33.10, after reporting fourth-quarter earnings that topped Street estimates. The Irving, Texas, company is confident in its position for 2010 and sees opportunities for revenue growth.

Write to Kristina Peterson at [e-mail]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703798904575069833303099998.html?mod=WSJ_newsreel_markets

[Tuff-Stuff]

zh>Dennis Gartman Says the Euro Has Had It

Submitted by madhedgefundtrader on 02/17/2010 01:00 -0500


Legendary futures trader, Dennis Gartman, says the euro has had it, and has a long way to go before it finds a bottom. He is urging investors to short the European currency and go long Canadian and Australian dollars against it. They may resolve Greece, but not Portugal, Spain, or Italy.

The strong dollar is also causing a lot of damage to the commodities charts and their derivative equities, with those for Freeport McMoRan (FCX) and US Steel (X) broken. The government January crop report that forecasts the corn harvest will leap from 12.8 to 13.1 billion bushels is a total game changer, as genetically modified seeds are delivering incredibly tough, weather resistant strains and surprisingly large yields. Gartman is now repositioning his portfolio to go long industries that benefit from falling food and commodities prices, and go short producing industries.

Gold is also taking a hit, so he prefers to go long against weaker sterling and the euro. He hates to buy gold, as he is not a foaming at the mouth gold bug, but for now the fundamentals are with the barbaric relic. Fiat currencies are not going to bring on the demise of Western civilization.

Watch the euro/yen cross for short term market direction, as it is a great barometer of global risk taking. Seeing where the big hedge funds spent their borrowed yen is a great “tell” for financial markets.

Although he believes the economy is out of recession, it is not returning to the heady 3%, 4%, and 5% the economy sees in its rear view mirror. Instead, it is heading for the “square root” scenario I have been arguing for, which he refers to as “a tea cup with a handle.” With bankers reverting to their traditional 9:00-3:00 work day, the credit won’t be available to do any better. Why should they bother lending to customers of dubious credit quality when the steepness of the yield curve offers such a great free lunch?

Although there is much to worry about with Treasury bonds, it could be a long wait before we see a big move, and the early players could get bled dry by the cost of carry. Look no further than the JGB market, which some hedge funds started shorting 15 years ago, to their constant chagrin.

US stocks are going nowhere, and could end up the year unchanged from where we are now, after suffering a big dip in the interim. China (FXI) is another story, which is leaping from the 14th century to the 22nd. Dennis also likes stocks in Brazil (EWZ), Australia (EWA), Canada (EWC), and Indonesia (IDX).

Gartman has been in the market since they traded rocks for pre-Cambrian settlement. He has published his daily “Gartman Letter” since 1987, which is a must read for hedge fund managers, major corporations, banks, prop desks, and hedge funds.

Dennis started his career as an economist for “Cotton, Inc,” where he analyzed cotton supply and demand for the US textile industry. He went on to trade foreign exchange for NCNB National Bank in Charlotte, North Carolina, and to trade bond futures as an independent member of the Chicago Board of Trade. He then managed the futures brokerage operation of Sovran Bank. Dennis recently served as an outside director of the Kansas City Board of Trade, and taught classes on derivatives at the Federal Reserve school for bank derivatives.

Although a libertarian at heart, sometimes the center doesn’t hold and things become unstuck. If the government didn’t force feed liquidity into the system in 2008, things would have gotten very ugly. Dennis thinks the recent bout of Bernanke bashing was “disgraceful,” for a man who did a spectacular job under duress.

Dennis is going to share his thoughts with us on stocks, bonds, currencies, commodities, and the economy. If you are a qualified investor and want to shower his hedge fund with your millions, you can contact him at www.thegartmanletter.com. To hear my entire interview with Dennis, where we discuss the future of everything under the sun, please click here at http://www.madhedgefundtrader.biz/Dennis_Gartman.html .

For more iconoclastic and out of consensus analysis, you can always visit me at www.madhedgefundtrader.com , where the conventional wisdom is mercilessly flailed and tortured daily.

[Tuff-Stuff]

Hedge Fund Radio~~~>>>


Interview with Gartman

http://www.madhedgefundtrader.biz/Dennis_Gartman.html