MARKET CURRENTS
real-time news and commentary for investors
MARKET CURRENTS
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Today - Wednesday, May 22, 2013
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11:26 AM Unipixel (UNXL +2.4%) is reiterated a Buy by Cowen & Co.'s Rob Stone who calls Friday's 26% plunge overdone. "It is logical for the PC OEM partner to delay a new product launch within months of an operating system update," he writes. Addressing Atmel (ATML -0.1%), Stone says the "competitive landscape appears unchanged." [Tech] Comment!
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11:20 AM GlaxoSmithKline (GSK +1%) says it's been awarded up to $200M by the U.S. government to develop new antibiotics. Under the terms of the agreement, GSK will collaborate with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to develop several antibiotics to fight antibiotic resistance and bio-terrorism. GSK will receive $40M for the initial 18-month agreement and up to a total of $200M if the agreement is renewed over five years. [Healthcare, On the Move, Global & FX] Comment!
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11:18 AM Nintendo (NTDOY.PK) wins a patent infringement case filed against it by Copper Innovations Group over technology used in its Wii gaming console. The ruling adds to a growing trend of companies winning cases against somewhat broad claims of patent infringement in the tech industry. Overstock.com (OSTK +0.7%) on pesky patent damages pursuers: "Bullies need to have their noses bloodied once in a while." [Consumer, Tech] Comment!
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11:15 AM Rosetta Resources (ROSE -0.3%) is downgraded to Hold from Buy at Cowen, which thinks significant credit is priced in for vertical drilling potential in Permian assets. The firm's long-term positive view on ROSE is based on focused Eagle Ford development drilling, strong cash flow growth and a conservative balance sheet. [Energy, Quick Ideas] Comment!
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11:09 AM Syneron Medical (ELOS +2.3%) moves up after reporting a slightly better Q1 on the top line. Total revenue decreased on a Y/Y basis however, largely due to lower PAD segment revenue in EMEA and Japan, which was partially offset by moderate revenue growth in all other geographies and growth in EBU segment revenue. The company also said its board of directors has appointed Amit Meridor as the company's new president, reporting directly to CEO, Shimon Eckhouse. Existing board member David Schlachet has also been appointed as chairman. [Healthcare, Earnings, On the Move] Comment!
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11:07 AM AIG remains at the top Goldman's list of hedge fund hotels (the 50 stocks appearing most frequently among hedge fund top 10 holdings). Google (GOOG) retains its #2 position. Apple (APPL) - in the top spot for 3 years until February - remains at #3. Goldman notes the basket has outperformed the S&P a bit this year and the top 20 has done better by more than 1000 basis points. We smell an ETF offering. The rest of the top 20: C, GM, PCLN, VMED, NWSA, MSFT, HTZ, JPM, APC, PFE, QCOM, CHTR, HES, CBS, EBAY, DAL, EQIX. Comment!
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11:04 AM Wal-Mart (WMT -0.2%) finds a friend in Gap (GPS -0.3%) CEO Glenn Murphy who sided with the retail giant during a shareholder/analyst call when asked why the company didn't sign a highly-publicized Bangladesh building safety accord. The exec notes the framework of the agreement is European-based and it needs some U.S. accommodations before Gap and other U.S. retailers can become comfortable with it. (transcript) Comment!
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10:55 AM Suntech's (STP -14.8%) local creditors claim the Chinese solar panel maker's bankrupt Wuxi subsidiary owes them a combined 15.6B yuan ($2.5B), as a debt restructuring process expected to last months begins. The restructuring of STP's domestic debts is being closely watched by its overseas creditors, whom analysts say are likely to take a haircut. [Energy, Tech, On the Move] Comment!
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10:45 AM Oil pipelines are essential to Canada's economic growth in the same way railroads were in the 1880s, Enbridge's (ENB) Al Monaco tells Bloomberg's Canada Economic Summit: “Canada is an export-driven resource economy. This is our foundation." Pipelines should be “symbols of unity” like the cross-Canada railroad that enabled western grain farmers to get their wheat to market, a TD Bank exec adds. (also) [Energy] Comment!
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10:44 AM Shares of Monster Beverage (MNST +3.3%) get a boost of energy from a BMO upgrade to Outperform. The firm doesn't beat around the bush on Monster, saying ""incessant negative media coverage...has created a compelling entry point." [Consumer, On the Move] 3 Comments
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10:44 AM Monro Muffler (MNRO +2.8%), which is in the midst of an impressive two-day, post-earnings rally (now at ~11%), gets a lift from a price target hike to $63 from $45 at Stifel Nicolaus which came away from a management presentation impressed: "Comp is running +3% quarter-to-date and is expected in the +2.5-4.5% range for the full year (well ahead of our -1% expectations), GM will run flat to slightly negative in the year ahead (a little lower than our model), and SG&A leverage will run in the 100-150 bp Y/Y range (ahead of our model)." Stifel also ups its FY14 and FY15 EPS estimates on expectations of a "leverage pop." [On the Move] Comment!
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10:42 AM Bernanke: Stocks continue with solid gains as the chairman suggests the Fed may never sell the massive assets it's accumulated, instead just letting them roll down. Most interesting are Treasury prices (TLT -1.1%) rolling over - the 10-year yield sunk to 1.89% as Bernanke's soft comments hit the tape, but has reversed to now threaten 2%. Gold (GLD +0.6%) has given up much of its knee-jerk gains, and the dollar (UUP +0.3%) is having none of it, higher across the board, particularly vs. the aussie (FXA -1.1%), yen (FXY -1%), and loonie (FXC -0.6%). 1 Comment
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10:40 AM Brinker International (EAT) will create a Canadian subsidiary as part of its plan to buy back Chili's restaurants from franchisees. What to watch: With same-restaurant sales stagnant for Chili's in the U.S. and competitive pressure fierce, the company may look to more select global markets for growth. [Consumer] Comment!
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10:37 AM Rigel Pharmaceuticals (RIGL +0.4%) says it's made clinical advancement in three programs currently in development. The first program is R348, a topical ophthalmic formulation of a JAK/SYK inhibitor being developed to treat dry eye disease. The company notes that the drug was well tolerated in Phase 1 trials, and it plans to initiate Phase 2 trials soon. The other two are oncology programs being conducted by corporate partners, including an AXL kinase inhibitor under development by BerGenBio AS and a ligase inhibitor by Daiichi Sankyo (DSNKY.PK). [Healthcare, Global & FX] Comment!
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10:30 AM EIA Petroleum Inventories: Crude -0.3M barrels vs. consensus of -0.62M. Gasoline +3.0M barrels vs. consensus of -0.1M. Distillates -1.1M barrels vs. consensus of -0.3M. [Energy] Comment!
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