MARKET CURRENTS
real-time news and commentary for investors
MARKET CURRENTS
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Today - Tuesday, May 21, 2013
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10:05 AM LinkedIn (LNKD +2.6%) bounces after BGC starts coverage with a Buy and $225 PT. The business social networking leader is still down 7.5% from where it traded before delivering light Q2 guidance to go with a Q1 beat, but still remains up 62% YTD. [Tech] Comment!
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10:04 AM SA Pro author Money Investor is even more convinced of his short thesis (see comment thread) on hhgregg (HGG -8.5%) after listening to last night's earnings call (transcript). A focus on various non-standard promotions is a tell of a company grasping at ways to drum up business, he says, and flat-negative same-store sales guidance shows management doesn't see things getting better. [Consumer, On the Move, Quick Ideas] Comment!
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10:01 AM Jefferies initiates BioScrip (BIOS +3%) at Buy with a $17 price target citing expectations "for sustained, robust top line and EBITDA growth over the next five years" and the likelihood of "incremental market share gains." On the latest CC, management told analyst Brian Tanquilut that the reduced interest expense from a debt refinancing would more than offset the increase in aggregate principal necessary to pay the associated redemption premium. (transcript) [On the Move, Healthcare] Comment!
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10:00 AM On the hour: Dow +0.35%. 10-yr -0.17%. Euro -0.21% vs. dollar. Crude -0.29% to $96.65. Gold -1.74% to $1359.95. Comment!
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9:56 AM Stocks post early gains with the Dow +0.4% and outperforming the other major indexes thanks to nice gains in Home Depot (2.7%) post-earnings, and JPMorgan (2%) as Jamie Dimon looks set to keep both of his jobs. Comment!
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9:52 AM FX Energy (FXEN +9.3%) reports a successful production test at its Tuchola-3K well and says it plans to collect final data from the downhole pressure gauges and finish completing the well for production. The test flowed gas at rates of 3.8M-5.5M cu. ft./day with no water, and "raises the real possibility of opening a significant new exploration play for us in Poland," CEO David Pierce says. [Energy, On the Move] Comment!
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9:50 AM More from the Home Depot (HD +2.9%) earnings call (previous): Contractors get busy - Pro customer business in Q1 was greater than the consumer segment for the first time since 2008. [On the Move] Comment!
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9:46 AM China's official non-performing loan data ($86B in bad debt in Q1) "greatly understates" the extent of the problem, says Carson Block, believing the unwind will force Beijing to recapitalize a number of banks. Block's Muddy Waters recently made headlines with a short of Standard Chartered (SCBFF.PK, SCDRF.PK) - a U.K. bank earning most of its profit in Asia. China Financial ETF (CHIX) +32% Y/Y. [Global & FX, Financials] Comment!
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9:46 AM Cantor Fitzgerald's Irina Rivkind upgrades Cubist Pharmaceuticals (CBST +5%) to hold from sell (price target raised to $49 from $40) saying concerns about generic competition have abated. Rivkind also notes that investors have plenty of time to wait for "a more attractive entry point," as the next big catalyst for the company is hospital pneumonia data not due until 2015. [Healthcare, On the Move] Comment!
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9:41 AM IAMGOLD (IAG -4.9%) reports encouraging drill results from its Boto Gold project in West Africa, saying drilling continues to return wide intervals with good grades, confirming previous results and further extending the zones drilled. But gold miners (GDX -2.5%) are broadly lower as futures resume their descent after yesterday's wild ride: KGC -4.7%, EGO -4.6%, GFI -3.6%, ABX -2.8%, GG -2.2%, NEM -1.8%. [Commodities, On the Move] Comment!
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9:39 AM Heard during Home Depot's (HD +2.2%) earnings call: 1) Comparable-store sales should be higher in Q2 than total sales growth due to seasonal shifts. 2) Pro-level business was a big driver of gains in Q1, boosting sales and average ticket. 3) Appliance business momentum still strong, contributed 70 bps of comp gain in Q1. More product rollouts coming. 4) The late start to the spring garden season could help boost Q2 numbers as the retailer comped negatively in Q1. 5) Looking for some HD momentum? April comparable-store sales came in +10%. (webcast) [Consumer, Earnings] Comment!
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9:38 AM UBS doesn't think Microsoft's (MSFT +0.4%) rally is over; the firm is raising its PT to $40 from $33 ahead of today's 1PM ET Xbox event. Analyst Brent Thill, a long-time bull, cites potentially greater earnings visibility, investor appreciation of Microsoft's cloud momentum, enterprise strength, the return of money flows to tech (ed: it looks like plenty of money has been flowing in), and bottoming PC demand. (past Xbox rumors: I, II, III) (event live blog) [Tech] 1 Comment
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9:32 AM At the open: Dow +0.28% to 15379. S&P +0.2% to 1670. Nasdaq +0.10% to 3499.
Treasurys: 30-year -0.07%. 10-yr -0.07%. 5-yr -0.05%.
Commodities: Crude -0.07% to $96.86. Gold -1.09% to $1368.95.
Currencies: Euro -0.13% vs. dollar. Yen +0.46%. Pound +0.77%. Comment! -
9:28 AM Philip Morris (PM) says it will buy out the 20% of its Mexican subsidiary it doesn't own from Carlos Slim's Grupo Carso for an estimated purchase price of $700M. The deal will close in September subject to Mexican regulatory approval and will be "marginally accretive" to Q4 earnings. (PR) Comment!
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9:28 AM Advantage Oil & Gas (AAV) +3.6% premarket after saying financial advisers will begin soliciting interest in a sale of the company or other strategic transactions to maximize shareholder value. AAV also announces an increase in reserves and contingent resources at its Glacier property. [Energy, On the Move] Comment!
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9:21 AM Solar stocks took off in response to JA Solar's results yesterday, and they're surging premarket in response to Yingli's guidance hike today. Chalk it up to both heavy short interests, and growing optimism capacity cuts and rising non-European demand can put the troubled industry on more stable footing. Lux Research predicts solar's supply glut will evaporate, but not until 2015. TSL +9.1%. JASO +14.6%. LDK +9.8%. FSLR +1.6%. CSIQ +6.2%. JKS +6.5%. SOL +11.3%. [Tech, On the Move] Comment!
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9:21 AM Jefferies initiates coverage on Sony (SNE) with a Buy rating. With Loeb making some noise, an exit from the electronics business looks more likely, according to the firm. By Jefferies' math, Sony's profits would almost double if that were to happen. SNE +0.9% premarket. [Consumer, On the Move] Comment!
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9:19 AM Thai stocks (THD) cooled off Tuesday even as property shares outperformed on continued speculation about a rate cut to boost economic growth. Regional winners were Malaysian (EWM) and Philippine (EPHE) equities, up 0.58% and 0.72% respectively. [Global & FX] Comment!
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