STOCK MARKET WATCH, Tuesday January 23

[ozymandius]

Tuesday January 23, 2007

COUNTING THE DAYS
DAYS REMAINING IN THE * REGIME 727 LONG DAYS
DAYS SINCE DEMOCRACY DIED (12/12/00) 2219 DAYS
WHERE'S OSAMA BIN-LADEN? 1924 DAYS
DAYS SINCE ENRON COLLAPSE = 1885
Number of Enron Execs in handcuffs = 19
ENRON EXECS CONVICTED = 7
Enron execs conveniently deceased = 3
Other Arrests of Execs = 54


U.S. FUTURES & MARKETS INDICATORS
NASDAQ FUTURES-----------------------------S&P FUTURES




AT THE CLOSING BELL WHEN BUSH TOOK OFFICE on January 22, 2001
Dow - 10,578.24
Nasdaq - 2,757.91
S&P 500 - 1,342.90
Oil - $27.69/bbl
Gold - $266.70/oz.

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON January 22, 2007

Dow... 12,477.16 -88.37 (-0.70%)
Nasdaq... 2,431.07 -20.24 (-0.83%)
S&P 500... 1,422.95 -7.55 (-0.53%)
Gold future... 634.10 -2.30 (-0.36%)
30-Year Bond 4.85% -0.01 (-0.27%)
10-Yr Bond... 4.76% -0.01 (-0.29%)






GOLD, EURO, YEN, Loonie and Silver


PIEHOLE ALERT

Heads Up!
Preliminary info on appearances by Bush & Co. throughout the country. Details & links are added as they become available so check back. And if you know more, are organizing something, or would like to, contact [e-mail]

For information on protests and other actions Citizens For Legitimate Government

[ozymandius]

1. Today's Market WrapUp

Big Debt Sales in Focus This Week
BY MIKE HARTMAN

Stock prices are under pressure to begin the week with continuing declines in technology shares on earnings concerns, broker downgrades, and higher energy prices. Two weeks ago stocks were moving higher across the board (as bonds sold off) on improving economic data, but last week the tables were turned on tech stocks with disappointing forecasts from Apple and IBM. The selling on the NASDAQ continues, but this week it is also accompanied by selling pressure in the larger-cap Dow Stocks. Pfizer is lower after reporting a decline in fourth-quarter earnings, Boeing was downgraded to market perform by Wachovia and Caterpillar is lower on some analysts' expectations that the capital spending boom has topped-out. As we continue to move through the week I expect to hear more of a slowing economy with inflation held in check which would help to make U.S. Treasury debt more attractive. As it stands, the Treasury is scheduled to sell between $40 and $42 billion of new debt over the next three days.

In recent months there has been less global demand for U.S. debt paper as foreigners work to diversify their holdings away from U.S. dollars. In December we kept hearing analysts talk about the dollar falling off a cliff, but since then bond prices have fallen (moving yields/interest rates higher) while the dollar has rallied. We haven’t heard much about our “Dream Team” (Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Paulson) and what they brought back from their trip to China last month, but I will speculate they tried to drum-up some support from China to buy our debt. Put another way, we need China to help us support our deficit spending and continue our consumption of imported Chinese goods. Six out of the last seven weeks bond prices have moved lower, making yields more attractive. I firmly believe this was done as a pre-cursor to the heavy issuance of bonds due this week AND AGAIN JUST TWO WEEKS down the road in February with the Treasury’s quarterly refunding.

In the news today we are hearing of higher energy prices as crude oil holds above the $53 mark after briefly topping $54. We have already seen the beginning of price inflation in the food arena with higher corn and wheat prices. With oil beginning to move higher again one might think it could rekindle the concerns about inflation, but not this week! This week the government needs to borrow money; therefore, U.S. Treasuries need to look more attractive. Higher energy prices are now putting pressure on stocks (free-up some money for the bond market) and the media spin has higher energy prices causing the economy to slow. A slower economy is good for bonds, whereas higher inflation caused by higher energy prices would be bad for bonds. The mainstream media wants you to believe higher energy will slow the economy, not cause inflation. The spin should last for a few more weeks until the debt sales are complete, then the Wall Street Spin-Masters will be free to promote stocks once again. For now, the agenda is to sell government debt paper.

http://www.financialsense.com/Market/wrapup.htm

[ozymandius]

2. Today's Report

10:00 AM Leading Indicators Dec
Briefing Forecast 0.4%
Market Expects 0.2%
Prior 0.1%

http://biz.yahoo.com/c/e.html

[UpInArms]

3. (somewhat daily) dollar watch

http://quotes.ino.com/chart/?s=NYBOT_DX&v=i

Last trade 84.62 Change -0.42 (-0.49%)

US Fed - Changing of the Guard in 2007

http://www.dailyfx.com/story/strategy_pieces/global_central_bank_comments/US_Fed___Changing_of_1169544529337.html

Central Bank Speak

Yield Spread Analysis 01/16 – 01/23

Amidst a sparse economic calendar, global yield spreads went little changed last week. Long term rates edged lower in Canada as the BOC held rates steady for the fifth consecutive month, noting diminished inflation risk countered by weaker growth prospects. On net, the BOC’s outlook remains broadly balanced with rates pointing towards a dovish bias. Meanwhile, an acceleration in commodities prices increased the potential for price pressures in countries like New Zealand and Australia , which subsequently allowed the distinctly inverted yield curves to flatten slightly.

Long Term** vs. Short Term*



The rotation for the Federal Open Market Committee will bring new voting members on board at the next meeting on January 31, and they appear to be highly cautious on inflation risks with slightly dovish leanings:

Thomas Hoenig, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City President

“Monetary policy is moderately restrictive…At this point, I think we have policy that is designed to bring down the inflation rate steadily.” – January 19, 2007

William Poole, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President

“I think that we are well positioned where we are (on interest rates)…I am often described (as) an inflation hawk. I haven’t changed my mind about that, and therefore I think that only if the new information is pretty compelling would I want to take a position that we ought to be lowering rates, and I absolutely don’t rule that out.” – January 17, 2007

...more...

[ozymandius]

4. Oil prices hover below $53 a barrel

LONDON - Oil prices rose Tuesday as cold weather settled in on the northeastern United States.

Unusually warm weather in the United States and data showing growing crude inventories dragged oil prices below $50 a barrel last week for the first time since May 2005. But prices rallied Monday following a weekend storm, and seasonal temperatures persisted Tuesday as a cold front moved into the north-central U.S.

Light, sweet crude for March delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 40 cents to $52.98 in electronic trading by afternoon in Europe.

The February contract closed Monday at $51.13 a barrel, after trading near $53. Market volatility is common in the final days of trading on a contract, but traders also noted that ample U.S. stocks of oil and gasoline were depressing demand for crude oil.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/oil_prices

[ozymandius]

5. Alcatel-Lucent warning weighs on Europe

European equities fell on Tuesday as modest gains for a number of banking and oil stocks were offset by falling techs following an earnings warning from Alcatel (NYSE:ALA - news)-Lucent.

By midday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 0.4 per cent to 1,506.83, Frankfurt's Xetra Dax fell 0.8 per cent to 6,632.91, the CAC 40 in Paris shed 0.7 per cent to 5,541.5 and London's FTSE 100 lost 0.3 per cent to 6,197.8.

-cut-

Cisco's European rival Alcatel-Lucent fell 11.1 per cent to EU9.73 after warning of a drop in fourth-quarter earnings. The Paris-listed telecoms equipment maker said Alcatel's merger with Lucent last year had created "short-term uncertainty" for its customers, while the costs of closing the deal also "significantly impacted" the business.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ft/20070123/bs_ft/fto012320070748431752

[ozymandius]

6. G'morning Marketeers.

:donut: :donut: :donut:
I am running out for awhile. But I will return before lunchtime.

See you later.

Ozy :hi:

[AnneD]

19. Morning Marketeers,

:donut: I have found a decent place on the way home where I can enjoy a decent meal. It is a small Tacqueria that is part of a local chain. The food is decent and it is a moderately priced family place and I don't stick out too much. I practice my Spanish and if I screw up the waitresses are bilingual enough to help. I was enjoying my meal when I saw an obviously homeless man doing busy work to stretch out his time at the table and enjoy the warmth. He had packed as many leftovers as you could and they were stacked at his table. I overheard heard the manager going over and quietly offering him more if he needed.

I found myself thinking of Steve Allen. Although know for his comedy-he was a passionate outspoken proponent of migrant workers rights. I remember him explaining that at one point in his knocking about in the Southwest, he sometimes went without eating. He discovered that when he came to a Hispanic area, no matter how poor they were, they would always share a meal with a homeless stranger.

In my travels, I have discovered that those that have the least are often the first to share and share generously from what they have. Even if it was a cool glass of clean water. It is that though that warms me and gives me hope for humanity. My leaders do not give me hope. I draw my hope from the simple acts of humanity from the poorest of the poor.

Happy hunting and watch out for the bears.

[Mnemosyne]

7. Morning OZ! That toon really tickles! Rats

off the ship. lol

[citizen snips]

8. Bank of America 4Q Profit Up 47 Percent

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Bank of America Corp. said Tuesday its fourth-quarter earnings rose 47 percent, reflecting both the addition of MBNA and growth in most of its customer segments.

Net income at the nation's No. 2 bank climbed to $5.26 billion, or $1.16 per share, from $3.57 billion, or 88 cents per share, a year ago. Results for the fourth quarter of 2005 do not include MBNA, which was acquired on Jan. 1, 2006.

Excluding merger and restructuring charges, the company earned $5.01 billion, or $1.19 per share, in the latest quarter.

The Charlotte-based bank's revenue grew 34 percent to $18.46 billion from $13.81 billion last year.

more...
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070123/earns_bank_of_america.html?.v=5

[citizen snips]

9. Xerox 4Q Profit Down 24 Percent to $214M

STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) -- Copier and printer maker Xerox Corp. said Tuesday its fourth-quarter profit dropped 24 percent, weighed down by a higher restructuring charge.

Net income fell to $214 million, or 22 cents per share, compared with $282 million, or 27 cents per share, during the same period of 2005.

The company said its latest results included a $160 million, or 16 cents per share, restructuring charge. The 2005 fourth-quarter results included a $51 million, or 5 cents per share, restructuring charge.

Excluding the restructuring charge, adjusted earnings were 38 cents per share versus 32 cents per share in the prior year.

more...
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070123/earns_xerox.html?.v=7

[citizen snips]

10. Stocks open little changed on earnings

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks opened little changed on Tuesday amid a fresh wave of corporate earnings reports, but a string of gloomy forecasts by major tech companies still hung over the sector.

The Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI - News) was down 6.16 points, or 0.05 percent, at 12,471.00. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (^SPX - News) was down 0.86 point, or 0.06 percent, at 1,422.09. The Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ:^IXIC - News) was down 2.81 points, or 0.12 percent, at 2,428.26.

more...
http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/070123/markets_stocks.html?.v=6

[citizen snips]

11. Stocks in focus for Tuesday's session

Adtran Inc. (NASDAQ:ADTN - News) said fourth-quarter net income fell, as sales declined, to $17 million, or 24 cents a share, from $32.2 million, or 41 cents a share, during the same period in the prior year. Excluding items, quarterly per-share income was 26 cents. Analysts had expected per-share income of 23 cents.

AeroVironment Inc. said its initial public offering of 6.7 million shares has priced at $17 each, coming in above the expected range of $14 to $16. Shares of the maker of small drone aircraft will begin trading Tuesday on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol "AVAV."

AK Steel (NYSE:AKS - News) said its fourth-quarter loss widened to $49.3 million, or 45 cents a share, from $41.5 million, or 38 cents a share, a year earlier due in part to a post-retirement benefit charge and a decline in shipments. Excluding the $133.2 million post-retirement corridor charge and the impact of asset impairments and curtailment charges in 2005 and 2006, the Middletown, Ohio, steelmaker said it would have earned $51.3 million in the quarter, down from $83.5 million a year earlier. Quarterly net sales rose to $1.58 billion from $1.38 billion a year earlier. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected the company to have revenue of $1.47 billion. AK Steel said it shipped 1.52 million tons in the fourth quarter, down from 1.6 million tons in the year-ago period. In the first quarter, AK Steel said it expects shipments to remain flat from the fourth quarter. The company forecast operating profit of about $60-$65 per ton of steel shipped.

Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE:ALU - News) said it expects fourth-quarter sales of around 3.87 billion euros and operating profit of around 120 million euros. The newly-merged company said that it expects to take restructuring charges of around 800 million euros in the quarter. On an adjusted pro-forma basis, Alcatel-Lucent expects fourth quarter 2006 revenue of around 4.42 billion euros, compared with 5.25 billion euros last year, while operating profit is expected to reach breakeven, compared with 570 million euros last year. The company said that its recent merger and other moves created short-term uncertainty for its customers and which in turn significantly impacted the business in a challenging marketplace. It said that it is confident in resuming growth in 2007. It also raised its 2007 cost savings target by 200 million euros to at least 600 million euros.

more...
http://biz.yahoo.com/cbsm/070123/63abba782c964bd0bd1bf7734588b9b0.html?.v=2

[citizen snips]

12. Stock Prices Are Mixed in Early Trading

NEW YORK (AP) -- Stock prices are mixed in early trading. The Dow Jones industrial average is up 0.25 at 12,477.41. But the Nasdaq is off 0.98 at 2,430.98 and the Standard & Poor's 500 has fallen 0.17 to 1,422.78.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070123/wall_street.html?.v=4

[citizen snips]

13. DuPont 4Q Profit Surges on Gains

DOVER, Del. (AP) -- Specialty chemicals maker DuPont Co. said Tuesday its fourth-quarter profit more than quadrupled, due mainly to a hefty tax benefit, as well as higher sales and flat fixed costs.

Net income totaled $871 million, or 94 cents per share, up sharply from last year's profit of $154 million, or 16 cents per share. The latest quarter included a net gain of $449 million, or 49 cents per share, mainly due to tax benefits and insurance recoveries from hurricanes Katrina and Rita, partly offset by charges for restructuring, an asset impairment and accounting adjustments. Fourth-quarter 2005 results included a gain of $28 million, or 3 cents per share.

Excluding items, the company posted profit of 45 cents per share in the latest period, up from 13 cents last year.

Total sales climbed 8 percent to $6.28 billion from $5.83 billion a year ago, due in part to higher local selling prices and a 2 percent currency benefit.

more...
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070123/earns_dupont.html?.v=4

[Lucky Luciano]

14. AMR changes capital structure

They plan to raise $578M in a secondary offering which will dilute the number of shares currently outstanding by 6-7%. This is bad news for those long stock, but excellent news for those long AMR credit. The stock is down heavily on the news and credit spreads have tightened a bit. The rise in oil is also pressuring the stock as well.

[citizen snips]

15. Dollar Down, Gold Up in Europe

LONDON (AP) -- The U.S. dollar fell against other major currencies in European trading Tuesday, hitting a 14-year low against the pound. Gold rose.

The pound rose to $1.9878, up from $1.9764, on a wave of dollar selling after the euro moved back above $1.30. The euro traded at $1.3039, up from $1.2954 late Monday.

Later, in midday trading in New York, the euro fetched $1.3025 and the pound bought $1.9839.

Other dollar rates in Europe, compared with late Monday, included 121.32 Japanese yen, down from 121.61; 1.2383 Swiss francs, down from 1.2489; and 1.1812 Canadian dollars, down from 1.1822.

In midday New York, the dollar bought 121.49 yen and 1.2399 Swiss francs.

more...
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070123/dollar_gold.html?.v=7

[citizen snips]

16. Sector Snap: Insurers/Reinsurers

NEW YORK (AP) -- The legislation Florida lawmakers passed Monday seeking lower homeowners insurance rates may hurt reinsurers more than insurers.

The Florida State Legislature approved a 100-page bill Monday cutting insurance rates for customers of state-run Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the biggest property insurer in the state.

Following record hurricane damage in 2005, insurers raised property insurance premiums in the Gulf Coast, and some left the market. Florida legislators hope insurers will be forced to lower rates to compete with a state-run company selling cheaper insurance.

Shares of insurers have fallen in anticipation of this legislation -- with Allstate Corp. down 3.5 percent, Safeco Corp. down 4.9 percent and St. Paul Travelers Cos. down 3.4 percent in the past four weeks.

more...
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070123/sector_snap_insurers_reinsurers.html?.v=1

[citizen snips]

17. Grains, Soybeans Up; Beef, Pork Mixed

CHICAGO (AP) -- Soybean and grain futures advanced in early activity Tuesday on the Chicago Board of Trade.

Wheat for March delivery rose 4 1/2 cents to $4.69 1/2 a bushel; March corn rose 3 3/4 cents to $4.08 a bushel; March oats rose 1 1/4 cent to $2.68 1/4 a bushel; March soybeans rose 7 3/4 cents to $7.25 a bushel.

Beef and pork futures were mixed in early trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

February live cattle were unchanged at 90.25 cents a pound; March feeder cattle rose .08 cent to 92.45 cents a pound; February lean hogs fell .15 cent to 60.80 cents a pound; February pork bellies rose .13 cent to 96 cents a pound.


http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070123/board_of_trade.html?.v=2

[citizen snips]

18. Sector Snap: Online Travel

NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of online travel agencies traded mixed Tuesday, as rumors swirled that a competitor may join their ranks as a publicly traded company.

Travelport, the Cendant travel unit that was taken private by Blackstone Group in August, retained investment bank UBS and is considering spinning off Orbitz in a public offering, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

Orbitz.com was acquired by Cendant in 2004 for $1.25 billion.

Shares of Expedia Inc., whose online travel site competes with Orbitz and Travelport's Cheaptickets.com, gained 19 cents to $20.77 on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

more...
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070123/internet_sector_snap.html?.v=1

[ozymandius]

20. lunchtime check-in

12:21
Dow 12,521.87 Up 44.71 (0.36%)
Nasdaq 2,441.59 Up 10.52 (0.43%)
S&P 500 1,427.99 Up 5.04 (0.35%)
10-Yr Bond 4.791% Up 0.032
NYSE Volume 1,371,725,000
Nasdaq Volume 903,371,000

12:00 pm : The market is holding onto the bulk of its modest gains midday as investors finally begin to embrace what is actually shaping up to be a decent overall earnings season.

Among the three Dow components out with results this morning, United Technologies (UTX 66.15 +2.06) is garnering the bulk of buying interest (+3.2%) after it posted a 38% jump in Q4 profits and reaffirmed its FY07 EPS outlook. Bargain hunters believing yesterday's 3.5% sell-off in Boeing (BA 87.54 +1.94) was overextended are also helping to renew enthusiasm about valuations throughout the sector as virtually every component is trading higher, even in the face of surging oil prices.

With regard to crude recouping all of Monday's 1.7% pullback, a subsequent surge in the Energy sector (+1.9%) is providing even more influential leadership to the upside. The only other sector posting a gain of at least 1.0% is Materials. Albeit getting no assistance from DuPont (DD 49.00 -1.10), the sector's only laggard, the greenback retreating after being up six straight days against the yen is making dollar-denominated commodity stocks more attractive. DuPont is down 2.2% after matching analysts' forecasts but on revenues that were lighter than expected.

Although sector gains remain modest, the growing belief that Tech stocks are oversold on a short-term basis has helped to restore some enthusiasm throughout the beaten-down Tech sector. Among the biggest names helping to restore confidence is Texas Instruments (TXN 29.85 +1.26) which, after posting better than expected Q4 earnings last night, was upgraded at Merrill Lynch.

Unfortunately for the bulls, the absence of leadership from other influential areas like Financials and Health Care is minimizing market gains. The latter is under pressure primarily in response to an analyst downgrade-induced sell-off (-2.5%) in shares of Dow component Pfizer (PFE 26.29 -0.66). Bank of America (BAC 53.25 -0.40) topping Wall Street expectations but posting results that were the weakest of the big money-center banks is acting as an overhang for Financials. BTK -0.7% DJ30 +41.26 DOT +0.3% NASDAQ +10.93 NQ100 +0.4% R2K 1.0% SOX +1.0% SP400 +0.8% SP500 +4.83 XOI +1.9% NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1003/1870/784 mln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 986/2149/636 mln

[citizen snips]

21. Homebuilders Rise on Upgrade

NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares in homebuilders rose Tuesday after the sector's biggest player's earnings surprised Wall Street and two analysts issued bullish commentary based on data suggesting the yearlong housing slump may have reached its nadir.

D.R. Horton Inc. shares led the charge, posting a 7.5 percent gain, up $2.04, to $29.17 after the builder's fiscal third-quarter earnings came in 2 cents per share better than analysts expected.

The result fell 64 percent from a year ago, hurt by about $78 million in asset writedowns and charges to forfeit land options. But the charges were lower than many of Horton's peers. Lennar Corp. took nearly $500 million in charges, while Centex Corp., which reports earnings Tuesday as well, told investors that charges of more than $300 million would push it into the red.

Builders take writedowns to adjust the value of land or houses they no longer think can be developed and sold for a profit. The idea is to scrub the balance sheet and take a short-term hit to free up cash for when the sector recovers.

Analysts have generally applauded that strategy, another part of which is to cut prices to move inventory, which generates cash flow.

more...
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070123/homebuilders_mover.html?.v=1

[citizen snips]

22. Dow, Nasdaq Post Gains in Midday Trading

NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street rebounded modestly Tuesday as rising oil prices helped propel energy company shares higher, offsetting a dim outlook from telecommunications maker Alcatel-Lucent.

Exxon Mobil Corp. led blue chips and was among the Dow Jones industrials' biggest gainers as investors bet that a cold snap in the northeastern United States would increase energy demand. Fellow oil companies ConocoPhillips and Chevron Corp. also rose.

The energy sector's gains helped alleviate some of the pressure on the market from earnings reports. Bank of America Corp., chemical maker DuPont Co., and Johnson & Johnson all tumbled after reporting fourth-quarter results earlier in the session.

However, there was some optimism about technology issues on strong results from United Technologies Corp. and Texas Instruments Inc.

"Earnings are not coming in all that bad," said Brian Gendreau, an investment strategist with ING Investment Management. "There is an absence of any real bad news, leading indicators are up, and companies are not falling off the table. That's consistent with the modest rise in the Dow."

more...
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070123/wall_street.html?.v=19

[citizen snips]

23. Shares of Railroads Gain Momentum

NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of the nation's largest railroad operators moved higher Tuesday, as initially positive earnings reports took attention away from a lukewarm initiation of the sector by Calyon Securities Inc.

Shares of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. added $1.95, or 2.5 percent, to $79.08 in midday trading. Share of CSX Corp. rose $1.24, or 3.5 percent, to $36.64, while shares of Union Pacific Corp. gained $1.85 to $97.16. All three stocks trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

The activity came after Burlington Northern and CSX posted robust fourth-quarter profits and offered an optimistic picture for 2007.

CSX said on Monday after the markets closed that its fourth-quarter earnings rose 46 percent and predicted a double-digit increase in profits this year. Before the bell on Tuesday, Burlington Northern said its quarterly profit grew 21 percent and added that a rise in freight revenue in 2007 of 7 percent to 8 percent could fuel an increase in earnings per share by a low-teens percentage.

But Salvatore Vitale, an analyst at Calyon Securities, offered a more cautionary outlook. Vitale initiated coverage of the sector's six largest railroads at "Neutral" on Monday and followed up on Tuesday with an industry note warning that their outperformance could be nearing an end.

more...
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070123/railroads_mover.html?.v=1

[Lucky Luciano]

24. CCU stock ripping (Clear Channel)

Just broke through $37. Could they get a bump on their offer?

[citizen snips]

25. Treasury Bond Prices Modestly Lower

NEW YORK (AP) -- Treasury prices were modestly lower in trading midday Tuesday, as leading economic indicators and Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond manufacturing data failed to surprise the market, while heavy corporate issuance caused some hedging-related sales in Treasurys.

The 10-year Treasury note was down 7/32 point, or $2.19 per $1,000 in face value, from its level at 5 p.m. EST Monday. Its yield, which moves in the opposite direction, rose to 4.79 percent from 4.76 percent.

The 30-year bond fell 17/32. Its yield rose to 4.89 percent from 4.85 percent.

The 2-year note fell 1/32. Its yield rose to 4.93 percent from 4.91 percent.

Yields on 3-month Treasury bills were 5.13 percent as the discount rate was unchanged at 5 percent.

more...
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070123/bonds.html?.v=1

[citizen snips]

26. Sector Snap: Airline Shares Down

NEW YORK (AP) -- Airline stocks took a dive Tuesday after United Airlines' parent reported weaker-than-expected quarterly results and oil prices continued to climb.

Also hurting shares was a stock offering by American Airlines' parent and a report that US Airways Group Inc.'s bid for rival Delta Air Lines Inc. may be losing traction. Investors focused on airline stocks recently, hoping for consolidation that would squeeze seats out of the air and offer more pricing power for carriers.

The Amex Airline Index fell 3.2 percent, with all 11 component stocks marking declines. Dragging on shares was a barrel of crude gaining 84 cents to $53.42 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, as jet fuel is one of an airline's top costs.

United parent UAL Corp. reported fourth-quarter revenue and profit below Wall Street expectations, hurt by winter storms and flight cancellations. UAL shares lost $2.86, or 5.9 percent, to $45.89 in midday trading on the Nasdaq.

more...
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070123/airlines_sector_snap.html?.v=1

[citizen snips]

27. Midday Leaders & Laggards: Nasdaq 100

NEW YORK (AP) -- Investors anticipated Citrix Systems Inc.'s fourth-quarter results, to be released after the market closes on Tuesday, helping the company's shares become the biggest gainer in the Nasdaq 100 at midday.

The Nasdaq 100 index gained 7.04, to 1786.06, while the broader Nasdaq Composite index was up 12.42 to 2443.49 at midday.

Shares of Citrix, a provider of access infrastructure products for PCs, IP phones and other devices, rose $1.27, or 4.4 percent, to $29.98.

Research In Motion Ltd., which makes the BlackBerry wireless device, was the second biggest gainer after a Goldman Sachs analyst predicted more carriers will lower monthly service costs, driving overall consumer adoption.

A JPMorgan upgrade of Intuit Inc. to "Overweight" from "Neutral" drove shares of the financial software maker up 89 cents, or 2.9 percent, to $31.92.

more...
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070123/nasdaq_100_leaders.html?.v=1

[citizen snips]

28. Midday Leaders & Laggards: DJIA

NEW YORK (AP) -- Diversified conglomerate United Technologies Corp. led an advancing Dow Jones Industrial Average in midday trading Tuesday.

The Dow added 72.51 points to 12,549.67.

United Tech. helped pull the index up, adding $2.09, or 3.3 percent, to $66.20 on the New York Stock Exchange. The maker of Otis elevators and Sikorsky aircraft engines earlier said fourth-quarter profit rose 38 percent.

Boeing Co. rose $2.34, or 2.8 percent, to $87.97 on the NYSE after analysts said a sell-off sparked by a downgrade a day earlier was overdone.

The world's largest oil company, Exxon Mobil Corp., added $1.28 to $74.18, following the price of oil up.

more...
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070123/leaders_djia.html?.v=1

[citizen snips]

29. Midday Leaders & Laggards: S&P 500

NEW YORK (AP) -- D.R. Horton Inc., the nation's biggest homebuilder, was the top leader among stocks in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index in midday trading Tuesday. The Fort Worth, Texas-based builder's 35-cent-per-share profit in the fiscal first quarter topped Wall Street forecasts.

Shares of D.R. Horton jumped $2.02, or 7.5 percent, to $29.15 in midday trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

The S&P 500 Index was up 6.04, at 1428.99.

Billionaire investor Carl Icahn's agitation for Temple-Inland Inc. to sell off some of its businesses pushed the packaging maker's stock to a new 52-week high.

Temple-Inland's shares gained $3.44, or 7.4 percent, to $49.94, at one point touching as high as $50.10, compared with a previous 52-week high of $48.29 on the Big Board.

more...
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070123/leaders_s_p_500.html?.v=1

[citizen snips]

30. LG Electrincs 4Q Profit Falls

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- Fourth quarter profit at LG Electronics Inc., South Korea's largest consumer appliance maker, plunged 85 percent amid falling sales and price declines for flat-screen televisions, the company said Tuesday.

LG Electronics, also a leading manufacturer of mobile phone handsets, earned 48 billion won ($51.2 million) in the three months ended Dec. 31, the company said in a statement, down sharply from the same quarter a year ago.

Still, the result was better than expected. Analysts had predicted the company would post a net loss of 7.6 billion won ($8.1 million) in the quarter, according to a Dow Jones Newswires survey.

Sales at the Seoul-based company fell 11 percent to 5.52 trillion won ($5.87 billion).

Consumer electronics companies like LG have been hit by intense competition that has forced price cuts even as unit sales increase.

more...
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070123/earns_skorea_lg_electronics.html?.v=4

[citizen snips]

31. Report: Google Search Share Up in Dec.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Google Inc.'s share of U.S. search queries topped 50 percent in December, while the closest competitor, Yahoo Inc., lost ground, according to data released Tuesday by Nielsen/NetRatings.

U.S. Web surfers used Google for more than 3 billion searches in December, or 50.8 percent of the total queries, representing 22.6 percent growth over the same period in 2005.

Yahoo snagged a 23.6 percent share of the search-query market, down from 24.3 percent in November. Still, the site handled 1.41 billion searches, 30.1 percent better than a year ago.

Microsoft Corp.'s MSN and Windows Live search engines captured 8.4 percent of the market, up a little from their 8.2 percent share in November. The sites handled 9.7 percent fewer queries than a year ago.

more...
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070123/nielsen_netratings_search_share.html?.v=1

[citizen snips]

32. Sector Snap: Ethanol Rallies

NEW YORK (AP) -- Ethanol stocks rallied Tuesday as investors bet the president would again criticize the nation's "addiction" to oil -- and push for alternative fuels -- in his State of the Union speech.

In last year's State of the Union address, Bush said: "America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world." He advocated a move toward ethanol made from corn, wind and solar power.

An expectation for similarly strong words in Tuesday night's speech sparked sharp gains among ethanol producers.

Shares of Pacific Ethanol Inc. jumped more than 9 percent, up $1.45, or 8.6 percent, to $18.27 on the Nasdaq Stock Market in afternoon trading. In the last 52 weeks, PEI has traded between $10.38 and $44.50.

Verasun Energy Corp. shares picked up 64 cents, or 3.6 percent, to $18.49, while Aventine Renewable Energy Holdings Inc. saw its shares rise 23 cents to $20.03 on the New York Stock Exchange.

more...
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070123/ethanol_sector_snap.html?.v=1

[citizen snips]

33. Chips Snap: Trident, TI Shares Surge

NEW YORK (AP) -- Semiconductor stocks jumped in Tuesday's trading session, buoyed by Texas Instruments Inc.'s suggestion that an industrywide inventory correction won't be drawn out.

Late Monday, the Dallas-based chip maker posted a modest 2 percent rise in fourth-quarter earnings, and eased concerns about the industry's current inventory correction.

"Although the near-term environment continues to be challenging, we believe this correction is happening quickly and will be relatively short lived," said Texas Instruments CFO Kevin March in Monday's conference call.

Texas Instruments shares were up $1.33, or 4.7 percent, at $29.92 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

more...
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070123/sector_snap_semiconductors.html?.v=1

[citizen snips]

34. Oil Prices Settle Above $55 a Barrel

NEW YORK (AP) -- Oil prices settled above $55 a barrel on Tuesday after the federal government announced plans to boost the country's emergency crude stockpile this spring at a rate of 100,000 barrels per day.

Light, sweet crude for March delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange leaped $2.48, or 4.7 percent, to settle at $55.04 in New York.


http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070123/oil_prices.html?.v=9

[ozymandius]

35. final numbers

Dow 12,533.80 Up 56.64 (0.45%)
Nasdaq 2,431.41 Up 0.34 (0.01%)
S&P 500 1,427.99 Up 5.04 (0.35%)
10-Yr Bond 4.804% Up 0.045
NYSE Volume 2,896,879,000
Nasdaq Volume 2,018,741,000

blather to come...

[ozymandius]

36. here be it

4:20 pm : Buyers returned Tuesday following Monday's broad-based decline amid some renewed optimism about the overall earnings picture for Q4. However, market gains were modest at best as a late-day surge in oil prices took some steam out of intraday recovery efforts.

With earnings season in full swing and this week marking the biggest batch of reports thus far, Tuesday was no exception. Of the three Dow components reporting today, United Technologies (UTX 66.14 +2.05) was the best performer on the blue-chip index (+3.2%) after it posted a 38% jump in Q4 profits.

The Industrials sector got an additional boost from Railroads (+3.7%), even in the face of the 4.7% surge in oil. Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNI 80.15 +3.02) and CSX Corp (CSX 36.70 +1.60) soared 3.9% and 4.6%, respectively, after posting solid quarterly results and providing optimistic outlooks.

With regard to oil prices, crude for March delivery closed just above $55/bbl, recording its largest one-day increase since September 2005 following reports that President Bush will propose doubling the size of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. While oil's surge helped Energy more than halve its year-to-date 4.6% decline, the sector's 2.4% advance was also attributed to the commodity's potential to crimp spending exacerbating the continued rotation out of Technology.

Of the other five sectors closing in positive territory, Materials was also up more than 1.0% as weakness in the greenback made dollar-denominated commodity stocks more attractive.

However, even though only three sectors closed lower, the losing trio of Financials, Health Care and Technology are also the most influential of the 10 economic sectors. Since they collectively account for nearly 50% of the total weighting on the S&P 500, the absence of their leadership kept market gains minimal.

Health Care was in focus after Johnson & Johnson (JNJ 66.50 -0.68) beat expectations on record revenues; but management saying the acquisition of Pfizer's (PFE 26.34 -0.61) consumer health care group won't add to its bottom line until 2009 weighed on the stock all day. Fellow Dow component Pfizer was even bigger drag on the sector, plunging 2.3% after being downgraded.

Turning in the day's second worst performance was Tech, as some more evidence (i.e. warnings and higher energy prices) feeding slowdown concerns acted as an overhang. Alcatel-Lucent (ALU 13.14 -1.05) warned that it won't make a profit in Q4 while Tellabs (TLAB 9.95 -0.07) guiding Q1 revenues below consensus estimates also took a toll on Communications Equipment (-1.4%). The latter was one of today's worst performing S&P industry groups.

However, not all was lost. With most of the bad news still priced into shares of Texas Instruments (TXN 29.60 +1.01), a better than expected Q4 earnings last night prompting Merrill Lynch to upgrade the stock earmarked TXN as one of the sector's few bright spots. BTK -1.0% DJ30 +56.64 DJTA +0.3% DJUA 0.5% DOT -0.1% NASDAQ +0.34 NQ100 -0.3% R2K +1.0% SOX 0.1% SP400 +0.8% SP500 +5.04 XOI +2.4% NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1192/1824/2.04 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1126/2153/1.66 bln