Financial Tides -- A Stock Market Investing Newsletter by Jim Van Meerten

Varian Medical Systems - VAR

2012-01-30T14:24:00.000-05:00

Today I deleted Varian Medical Systems (VAR) from the Barchart Van Meerten Speculative portfolio for negative price momentum.

Barchart technical indicators:

60% Barchart short term technical sell signal
Trend Spotter sell signal
Below its 20 day moving average
9.40% Off its 1 year high
Relative Strength Index 40.75%

American Electic Technologies - AETI - deleted

2012-01-30T14:15:00.000-05:00

Today I deleted American Electric Technologies (AETI) from the Barchart Van Meerten Speculative portfolio for negative price momentum

Barchart technical indicators:

40% Barchart short term technical sell signal
Trend Spotter sell signal
Below its 20 day moving average
16.35% off its 1 year high

Relative Strength Index 38.33%

RTI Biologics - RTIX - deleted

2012-01-30T14:04:00.000-05:00

Today I deleted RTI Biologics (RTIX) from the Barchart Van Meerten new high portfolio for negative price momentum:

Barchart technical indicators:

80% Barchart short term technical sell signal
Trend Spotter sell signal
Below its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
18.58% of its 1 year high
Relative Strength Index 39.36%

Soufun Holdings - SFUN - New highs

2012-01-30T13:04:00.000-05:00

On Barchart's new high list today: Sofun Holdings (SFUN)

Barchart technical indicators:

56% Barchart technical buy signal
Trend Spotter buy signal
Above its 20, 50 an d100 day moving average
14 new highs and up 29.95% in the last month
Relative Strength Index 65.43%
Barchart computes a technical support level at 18.19
Recently traded at 18.82 with a 50 day moving average of 15.13

China Shenghuo Pharmaceuticals - KUN - new highs

2012-01-30T09:56:00.000-05:00

On Barchart's new high list today: China Shenghuo Pharmaceuticals (KUN)

Barchart technical indicators:

72% Barchart technical buy signal
Trend spotter buy signal
Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
17 new highs and up 115.63% in the last month
Relative Strength Index 76.97%
Barchart computes a technical support level at .64
Recently traded at .69 with a 50 day moving average of .43

Rodman and Renshaw Capital - RODM - new highs

2012-01-30T09:46:00.000-05:00

On Barchart's new high list today: Rodman & Crenshaw Capital (RODM)

Barchart technical indicators:

56% Barchart technical buy signal
Trend Spotter buy signal
Above its 20 and 50 day moving average
17 new highs and up 60.87% in the last month
Relative Strength Index 72.66%
Barchart computes a technical support level at .67
Recently traded at .74 with a 50 day moving average of .51

Cosan Ltd - CZZ - New HIghs

2012-01-30T09:35:00.000-05:00

On Barchart's new high list today: Cosan Ltd (CZZ)

Barchart technical indicators:

96% Barchart technical buy signal
Trend Spotter buy signal
Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving average
18 new highs and up 19.35% in the last month
Relative Strength Index 78.16%
Barchart computes a technical support level at 12.57
Recently traded at 13.20 with a 50 day moving average of 11.69

Tata Motors - TTM - new highs

2012-01-30T09:23:00.000-05:00

On Barchart's new highs lists today: Tata Motors (TTM)

Barchart technical indicators:

96% Barchart technical buy signal
Trend Spotter buy signal
Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving average
18 new highs and up 41.47% in the last month
Relative Strength Index 84.27%
Barchart computes a technical support level at 23.53
Recently traded at 23.88 with a 50 day moving average of 18.34

Barchart Morning Call 1/30

2012-01-30T09:11:00.000-05:00

Barchart Morning Call

Barchart.com - 1 hr 7 mins ago

Overnight Developments

Global stocks this morning are weaker with the Euro Stoxx 50 down -0.48% and Mar S&Ps down -6.90 points. The dollar and Treasuries gained as stocks and commodities fell on heightened European sovereign-debt concerns. The euro fell against the dollar after Greece signaled opposition to economic oversight in exchange for aid when Greek Finance Minister Venizelos rejected a report from the Financial Times that Germany proposed a plan to appoint a commissioner to directly intervene in Greek budget decisions as a condition of a 130 billion bailout, citing "national dignity." The euro also weakened after Italy sold 7.5 billion euros of debt due in 2016, 2017, 2021 and 2022 today, below the maximum target of 8 billion euros, while Portugal's 10-year bond yield rose to a euro-era record of 16.09%, which helped push credit-default swaps to insure Portuguese government debt to a record on concern investors will have to take losses on their Portuguese bond holdings in the wake of a Greek debt deal. Jan Euro-Zone economic confidence improved less than expected when it rose +0.6 to 93.4, weaker than expectations of an increase to 93.8. French bank stocks plunged after French President Sarkozy said the country will unilaterally impose a 0.1% tax on financial transactions starting in Aug.
Asian stocks today closed lower with Japan down -0.54%, China -1.73%, Australia -0.36%, South Korea -1.33%, India -2.15%. Asian stocks fell after Q4 U.S. GDP rose less than expected and Japanese stocks weakened further after the yen rose to a 1-1/2 week high against the dollar, which dims the earnings outlook for exporters. Japanese shipping companies declined after the Nikkei newspaper reported that Japan's three largest shippers may post pretax losses for the year ending March amid plunging cargo rates. Chinese stocks closed lower the first day back from the week-long Lunar holiday after the government refrained from additional easing measures and after the Xinhua News Agency reported that Yin Chengji, spokesman at the Ministry of Human Resources, said China has no plans to invest local pensions in the market "temporarily."

Overnight U.S. Stock News

March S&Ps this morning are trading down -6.90 points. The US stock market on Friday settled mostly lower after the U.S. economy grew less than expected in Q4 and after New York Fed President Dudley said he sees "significant impediments" to the economic recovery this year: Dow Jones -0.58%, S&P 500 -0.16%, Nasdaq Composite +0.40%. Bearish factors on Friday included (1) the weaker-than-expected Q4 U.S. GDP (+2.8% annualized versus expectations of +3.0% annualized) as Q4 personal consumption grew +2.0%, weaker than expectations of +2.4%, (2) comments from New York Fed President Dudley who said the U.S. economy was likely to slow this year as "more contractionary" fiscal policies and the "depressed housing market" were likely to impede economic expansion with the main risk to growth being "uncertainty as to how events in Europe will unfold," and (3) concern the European debt crisis may worsen after credit-default swaps to insure Portuguese government debt rose to a record.
Bullish factors included (1) the unexpected increase in Jan U.S. University of Michigan consumer confidence to an 11-month high (+1.0 to 75.0 versus expectations of unchanged at 74.0), (2) optimism that a debt-swap agreement between Greece and its private creditors would be resolved after EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Rehn said Greek authorities are "very close" to reaching an agreement with its creditors, and (3) decent Q4 earnings results thus far as 66% of the 169 companies in the S&P 500 that reported earnings results since Jan 9 have beaten analysts' estimates.

Today's Market Focus

March 10-year T-notes this morning are up +10.5 ticks. T-note prices on Friday climbed to a contract high and settled higher after weaker-than-expected Q4 U.S growth added to speculation the Fed will expand asset purchases to spur economic growth: TYH2 +9.0, FVH2 +1.5, EDM2 -0.5. Bullish factors included (1) the weaker-than-expected Q4 U.S. GDP (+2.8% annualized versus expectations of +3.0% annualized), (2) comments from New York Fed President Dudley who said the U.S. economy was likely to slow this year as "more contractionary" fiscal policies and the "depressed housing market" were likely to impede economic expansion with the main risk to growth being "uncertainty as to how events in Europe will unfold," and (3) increased safe-haven demand for Treasuries on concern the European debt crisis may worsen after credit-default swaps to insure Portuguese government debt rose to a record. Bearish factors included (1) the unexpected increase in Jan U.S. University of Michigan consumer confidence to an 11-month high (+1.0 to 75.0 versus expectations of unchanged at 74.0) and (2) hawkish comments from Richmond Fed President Lacker who said he "does not believe economic conditions are likely to warrant an exceptionally low federal funds rate before late 2014" and that interest rates may need to rise before then to prevent an increase in inflation.
The dollar index this morning is higher with the dollar/yen -0.03 yen and the euro/dollar -1.01 cents. The dollar index on Friday dropped to a 1-1/2 month low and settled lower for a third day after Q4 U.S. GDP expanded at a slower pace than expected and after the euro rose to a 1-1/2 month high against the dollar on speculation Greece was close to reaching agreement with its creditors: Dollar Index -0.493, USDJPY -0.779, EURUSD +0.01094. Bearish factors included (1) the weaker-than-expected Q4 U.S. GDP, (2) comments from EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Rehn who said Greek authorities are "very close" to reaching an agreement with its creditors, and (3) a fall in Italian borrowing costs, which is euro supportive, after Italy auctioned 8 billion euros of 182-day bills at a yield of 1.969%, down from 3.251% at a similar auction last month and the lowest in 8 months. Bullish factors Friday included (1) contagion fears from the European debt crisis after credit-default swaps to insure Portuguese government debt rose to a record amid concern Portugal's government may seek to copy a proposed Greek debt deal for private investors to take losses on their bond holdings and (2) the unexpected surge in Jan U.S. University of Michigan consumer confidence to an 11-month high, which is dollar supportive.
Mar crude oil prices this morning are down -37 cents a barrel and Mar gasoline is -2.74 cents per gallon. Crude oil and gasoline prices on Friday settled mixed after slower-than-expected Q4 U.S. economic growth undercut crude while supply concerns lifted gasoline prices to a 4-3/4 month high: CLH12 -$0.14, RBH12 +7.26. Bullish factors included (1) the decline in the dollar index to a 1-1/2 month low, which boosts investment demand in commodities, (2) the unexpected increase in the final Jan U.S. University of Michigan consumer confidence to an 11-month high, which bolsters the outlook for the U.S. economy and energy demand, and (3) gasoline supply concerns after a 340,000 barrel-a-day Royal Dutch Shell refinery in Texas was shut because of a "temporary upset" and a 380,900 barrel-a-day Conoco Phillips refinery in Illinois was shut for repairs, which adds to the recent shutdown of Pennsylvania refineries by Sunoco and ConocoPhillips and the closure of the St. Croiz refinery by Hovensa LLC. Bearish factors included (1) the smaller-than-expected increase in Q4 U.S. GDP, which indicates reduced energy demand and (2) concerns the European debt crisis may worsen and crimp economic growth and fuel demand after credit-default swaps to insure Portuguese government debt rose to a record.

Today's U.S. Earnings Reports Earnings reports (confirmed releases, sorted by mkt cap): MCK-McKesson (BEST earnings consensus $1.38), PCL-Plum Creek Timber (0.39), SLG-SL Green Realty (0.03), HOLX-Hologic (0.32), RGA-Reinsurance Group of America (1.84), GCI-Gannwtt (0.69), TNB-Thomas & Betts (0.90), TGI-Triumph Group (1.12), GGG-Graco (0.51), SOA-Solutia (0.52), RCII-Rent-A-Center (0.82), WEN-Wendy's (0.04), ALGN-Align Technology (0.22), CFFN-Capitol Federal Financial (0.10), WWW-Wolverine World Wide (0.45).
Global Financial Calendar

Monday 1/30/12
United States
0830 ET	Dec personal spending expected +0.1%, Nov +0.1%. Dec personal income expected +0.4%, Nov +0.1%. Dec PCE deflator expected +2.3% y/y, Nov +2.5% y/y. Dec PCE core deflator expected +0.1% m/m and +1.7% y/y, Nov +0.1% m/m and +1.7% y/y.
1130 ET	Weekly 3-mo and 6-mo T-bill auctions.
Euro-Zone
0500 ET	Jan Euro-Zone business climate indicator expected +0.06 to -0.25, Dec +0.11 to -0.31.
0500 ET	Jan Euro-Zone economic confidence expected +0.5 to 93.8, Dec -0.5 to 93.3.
0500 ET	Revised Jan Euro-Zone consumer confidence, expected no change at -20.6.
0900 ET	EU leaders hold a summit meeting in Brussels.
1200 ET	ECB Council member Ewald Nowotny speaks about European monetary policy at an event in Berlin.
Germany
n/a	Jan German CPI (EU harmonized) expected -0.4% m/m and +2.4% y/y.
Japan
1815 ET	Jan Japan Markit/JMMA manufacturing PMI, Dec +1.1 to 50.2.
1830 ET	Dec Japan overall household spending expected -0.1% y/y, Nov -3.2% y/y.
1830 ET	Dec Japan jobless rate expected unchanged at 4.5%, Nov unchanged at 4.5%. Dec job-to-applicant ratio expected 0.70, Nov 0.69.
1850 ET	Dec Japan industrial production expected +2.9% m/m and -5.0% y/y, Nov -2.7% m/m and -4.2% y/y.
2300 ET	Dec Japan vehicle production, Nov +4.5% y/y.
United Kingdom
1901 ET	Jan U.K. GfK consumer confidence survey expected +1 to -32, Dec -2 to -33.

Barchart.com provides Financial Quotes, Charts and Technical Analysis for Stock and Commodity Traders.

Old Dominion Freight Line - ODFL - Barchart Chart of the Day

2012-01-30T09:07:00.000-05:00

Barchart.coms Chart of the Day - Old Dominion Freight Line (ODFL)

Barchart Research Team - Barchart.com - Fri Jan 27, 9:19PM CST

Related Stocks

ODFL - Old Dominion Freight Line

Sym	Last	Chg	Pct
ODFL	42.08	+0.07	+0.17%

The "Chart of the Day" is Old Dominion Freight Line (ODFL), which showed up on Friday's Barchart "All Time High" list. Old Dominion on Friday posted an all-time high of $42.15 and closed up 0.17%. TrendSpotter has been Long since Jan 19 at $41.28. In recent news on the stock, FTR's Truck Loading Index in December was up +5.3% y/y. SunTrust Robinson on Jan 7 initiated coverage on Old Dominion with a Neutral. Old Dominion Freight Line, with a market cap of $2.4 billion, is a motor carrier transporting primarily less-than-truckload shipments of general commodities, including consumer goods, textiles and capital goods to a diversified customer base.

How we found the Chart of the Day:
We found the "Chart of the Day" by scanning the Barchart "All Time High" list. In order to get to that list, we first clicked on the Stocks menu item on the Barchart home page, then on the "All Time Highs" menu item on the left menu bar. We then sorted the list by percentage gainers by clicking on the "Percent" column title. A stock that has posted a new All-Time high is typically showing strong upside momentum.
The status of Barchart's Opinion trading systems are listed below. Please note that the Barchart Opinion indicators are updated live during the session every 10 minutes and can therefore change during the day as the market fluctuates. The indicator numbers shown below therefore may not match what you see live on the Barchart.com web site when you read this report.

TrendSpotter: Buy
Short-Term Indicators: 80% Buy
Medium-Term Indicators: 100% Buy
Long-Term Indicators: 100% Buy
Overall Average 96% Buy

Barchart links for further information:

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Technicals Summary
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Company Info
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Income Statement-Quarterly
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Chart of the Day Archive
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Intermec - IN - New Highs

2012-01-27T10:44:00.000-05:00

On Barchart's S&P 600 small cap new high list: Intermec (IN)

Barchart technical indicators:

96% Barchart technical buy signal
Trend Spotter buy signal
Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
16 new highs and up 22.48% in the last month
Relative Strength Index 75.45%
Barchart computes a technical support level at 8.28
Recently traded at 8.41 with a 50 day moving average of 7.31

Lumber :Liguidators - LL - new highs

2012-01-27T10:14:00.000-05:00

On Barchart's S&P 600 new high lists: Lumber Liquidators (LL)

Barchart technical indicators:

96% Barchart technical buy signal
Trend Spotter buy signal
Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
16 new highs and up 25.35% in the past month
Relative Strength Index 77.22%
Barchart computes a technical support level at 21.72
Recently traded at 21.76 with a 50 day moving average of 17.78

OM Group - OMG - new highs

2012-01-27T10:01:00.001-05:00

On Barchart's S&P 600 smallcap list this morning: OM Group (OMG)

Barchart technical indicators:

64% Barchart technical buy signal
Trend Spotter buy signal
Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving average
17 new highs and up 24.47% in the last month
Relative Strength Index 74.26%
Barchart computes a technical support level at 27.41
Recently traded at 27.77 with a 50 day moving average of 23.42

Barchart Morning Call 1/27

2012-01-27T09:51:00.000-05:00

Barchart Morning Call

Barchart.com - 1 hr 45 mins ago

Overnight Developments

Global stocks this morning are mixed with the Euro Stoxx 50 down -0.21% and Mar S&Ps unchanged. The dollar is weaker and commodities are mixed as debt-swap talks between Greece and its private creditors continues with EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Rehn saying authorities are "very close" to reaching an agreement on a private-sector involvement this month. According to the head of the European Commission's economic division, Greece must repay 14.5 billion euros of bonds in March and an agreement that triggers as much as $3.2 billion of default insurance may be necessary unless all bondholders approve. The euro strengthened against the dollar as Italian borrowing costs fell after Italy auctioned 8 billion euros of 182-day bills at a yield of 1.969%, down from 3.251% at a similar auction last month and the lowest in 8 months. Undercutting European stocks was the larger-than-expected increase in Spain's Q4 unemployment rate to 22.9%, higher than expectations of 22.2% and the highest in 15 years.
Asian stocks today closed mixed with Japan down -0.09%, China closed for holiday, Australia +0.40%, South Korea +0.44%, India +0.92%. Japanese stocks fell as the yen strengthened and exporters declined, even after Prime Minister Noda pressed the BOJ for "bold" action to curb the yen's gains. Limiting losses in Japanese stocks was the +2.5% y/y increase in Dec Japan retail sales, stronger than expectations of +2.1% y/y and the biggest increase in 16 months. South Korean stocks finished higher, led by a rally in Samsung which rose 1.1% to a record high after the company reported Q4 net income of 4 trillion won ($3.6 billion), better than analysts' estimates of 3.99 trillion won. India's rupee surged to an 11-week high against the dollar after the RBI earlier this week cut banks' reserve requirements by 50 bp to 5.5%, which prompted investors to boost their holdings of Indian assets on speculation economic conditions will improve with an easing of monetary policy.

Overnight U.S. Stock News

March S&Ps this morning are trading unchanged. The US stock market on Thursday opened higher on stronger-than-expected Dec durable goods orders but shed its gains and settled lower after Dec U.S. new home sales unexpectedly declined and Dec leading indicators rose less than expected: Dow Jones -0.18%, S&P 500 -0.57%, Nasdaq Composite -0.46%. The S&P 500 posted a 6-month high, the Dow posted an 8-1/2 month high and the Nasdaq posted a 10-3/4 year high, but they all shed their advances and closed lower. Bearish factors on Thursday included (1) the larger-than-expected increase in weekly initial unemployment claims (+21,000 to 377,000 versus expectations of +18,000 to 370,000), (2) the smaller-than-expected increase in Dec leading indicators (+0.4% versus expectations of +0.7%), (3) weakness in homebuilders after the unexpected decline in Dec U.S. new home sales (-2.2% to 307,000 versus expectations of +1.9% to 321,000), and (4) weakness in bank stocks on concern the Fed's pledge to maintain record low interest rates until 2014 may hurt banks' earnings prospects and their profitability.
Bullish factors included (1) the stronger-than-expected Dec durable goods orders along with the upward revision to Nov (Dec +3.0% and +2.1% ex transportation versus expectations of +2.0% and +0.9% ex transportation and Nov revised up to +4.3% and +0.5% ex transportation from the originally reported +3.7% and +0.3% ex transportation), (2) decent Q4 reported earnings thus far as 68% of the 146 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings results since Jan 9 have beaten per-share earnings estimates, and (3) reduced European debt concerns as Italian borrowing costs fell after Italy sold 4.5 billion euros of zero-coupon 2014 debt, the maximum target, at a yield of 3.783%, down from a similar-maturity auction last month of 4.853%.

Today's Market Focus

March 10-year T-notes this morning are down -2.5 ticks. T-note prices on Thursday posted a 1-week high and settled higher on carry-over support from Wednesday's action by the Fed to extend record-low interest rates until late 2014 along with an unexpected decline in Dec U.S. new home sales: TYH2 +21.5, FVH2 +7.5, EDM2 +.020. Bullish factors included (1) carry-over support from Wednesday's action by the Fed to extend record-low interest rates until late 2014 along with speculation the Fed may implement QE3 after Fed Chairman Bernanke said policy makers are "prepared to provide further monetary accommodation," (2) the smaller-than-expected increase in Dec leading indicators (+0.4% versus expectations of +0.7%), and (3) the unexpected decline in Dec U.S. new home sales (-2.2% to 307,000 versus expectations of +1.9% to 321,000). Bearish factors included (1) the stronger-than-expected Dec durable goods orders along with the upward revision to Nov (Dec +3.0% and +2.1% ex transportation versus expectations of +2.0% and +0.9% ex transportation and Nov revised up to +4.3% and +0.5% ex transportation from the originally reported +3.7% and +0.3% ex transportation), and (2) slack demand for the Treasury's $29 billion 7-year T-note auction that had a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.73, below the 12-auction average of 2.82.
The dollar index this morning is weaker with the dollar/yen -0.51 yen and the euro/dollar +0.33 cents. The dollar index on Thursday dropped to a 1-1/2 month low and settled lower on carry-over weakness from Wednesday's Fed action to extend record low interest rates until late 2014 along with a decline in Italian borrowing costs that lifted the euro: Dollar Index -0.184, USDJPY -0.326, EURUSD +0.00028. Bearish factors included (1) carry-over weakness from Wednesday's Fed action to extend record low interest rates until late 2014 from mid-2013, which weakens the dollar's interest rate differentials, (2) a decline in Italian borrowing costs which lifted the euro to a 1-month high against the dollar after Italy sold 4.5 billion euros of zero-coupon 2014 debt, the maximum target, at a yield of 3.783%, down from a similar-maturity auction last month of 4.853%, and (3) an improvement in European funding conditions which reduced the safe-haven demand for the dollar after the 3-month cross-currency basis swap, the rate banks pay to convert euro interest payments into dollars, narrowed to 68 bp below the euro interbank offer rate, the least expensive in 5-1/2 months.
Mar crude oil prices this morning are up +22 cents a barrel and Mar gasoline is +1.62 cents per gallon. Crude oil and gasoline prices on Thursday settled higher after U.S. durable good orders rose more than expected and the dollar declined: CLH12 +$0.30, RBH12 +1.34. Mar gasoline rallied to a 3-1/4 month high. Bullish factors included (1) the slump in the dollar index to a 1-1/2 month low, which boosts investment demand in commodities, (2) the larger-than-expected increase in Dec U.S. durable goods orders, which signals economic strength that is beneficial for energy demand and consumption, and (3) strength in gasoline on potential supply shortages on the U.S. East Coast after the recent shutdown of Pennsylvania refineries by Sunoco and ConocoPhillips and the closure of the St. Croiz refinery by Hovensa LLC. Bearish factors included (1) the announcement by Libya's National Oil Corp. that Libya's crude production had increased to 1.3 million barrels a day on Jan 25 from 1.0 million barrels a day last month and (2) concerns over the sustainability of U.S economic growth after Dec U.S. new home sales unexpectedly declined and Dec leading economic indicators rose less than expected.

Today's U.S. Earnings Reports Earnings reports (confirmed releases, sorted by mkt cap): CVX-Chevron (BEST earnings consensus $2.85), PG-Procter & Gamble (1.08), MO-Altria Group (0.49), F-Ford Motor (0.26), HON-Honeywell International (1.04), D-Dominion Resources (0.64), NEE-NextEra Energy (0.91), AEP-American Electric Power (0.41), TROW-T Rowe Price Group (0.69), MCHP-Microchip Technology (0.42), NWL-Newell Rubbermaid (0.38), IDXX-IDEXX Laboratories (0.63), DHI-DR Horton (0.04), NS-NuStar Energy LP (0.31), LM-Legg Mason (0.27).
Global Financial Calendar

Friday 1/27/12
United States
0830 ET	Q4 U.S. GDP expected +3.0% annualized, Q3 +1.8% annualized. Q4 personal consumption expected +2.4%, Q3 +1.7%. Q4 GDP price index expected +1.9%, Q3 +2.6%. Q4 core PCE expected +0.9% q/q, Q3 +2.1% q/q.
0955 ET	Final Jan U.S. University of Michigan consumer confidence expected unchanged at 74.0, previous +4.1 to 74.0.
Germany
0200 ET	Dec German import price index expected +0.3% m/m and +3.8% y/y, Nov +0.4% m/m and +6.0% y/y.
Euro-Zone
0400 ET	Dec Euro-Zone M3 money supply expected +2.3% 3-mo avg and +2.1% y/y, Nov +2.5% 3-mo avg and +2.0% y/y.
0600 ET	ECB Executive Board member Jose Manuel Gonzalez-Paramo speaks at an event in Madrid.

Barchart.com provides Financial Quotes, Charts and Technical Analysis for Stock and Commodity Traders.

Digital Realty - DLR - Barchart Chart of the Day

2012-01-27T09:44:00.000-05:00

Barchart.com's Chart of the Day - Digital Realty Trust (DLR)

Barchart Research Team - Barchart.com - Thu Jan 26, 4:33PM CST

Related Stocks

DLR - Digital Realty Trust

Sym	Last	Chg	Pct
DLR	69.59	+0.75	+1.09%

The "Chart of the Day" is Digital Realty Trust (DLR), which showed up on Thursday's Barchart "All Time High" list. DLR on Thursday posted a new all-time high of $69.87 and closed up 1.09%. TrendSpotter has been Long since Oct 18 at $58.92. In recent news on the stock, Collins Stewart on Jan 19 initiated coverage with a Neutral and a target of $65. KeyBanc on Jan 12 downgraded DLR to Hold from Buy due to valuation but raised its target price to $68 from $66. Digital Realty Trust, with a market cap of $7.1 billion, owns, acquires, repositions and manages technology-related real estate, mainly data centers.

How we found the Chart of the Day:
We found the "Chart of the Day" by scanning the Barchart "All Time High" list. In order to get to that list, we first clicked on the Stocks menu item on the Barchart home page, then on the "All Time Highs" menu item on the left menu bar. We then sorted the list by percentage gainers by clicking on the "Percent" column title. A stock that has posted a new All-Time high is typically showing strong upside momentum.
The status of Barchart's Opinion trading systems are listed below. Please note that the Barchart Opinion indicators are updated live during the session every 10 minutes and can therefore change during the day as the market fluctuates. The indicator numbers shown below therefore may not match what you see live on the Barchart.com web site when you read this report.

TrendSpotter: Buy
Short-Term Indicators: 100% Buy
Medium-Term Indicators: 100% Buy
Long-Term Indicators: 100% Buy
Overall Average 100% Buy

Chart of the Day Archive
View Past Chart of the Day Reports

Terex - TEX - new highs

2012-01-26T10:22:00.000-05:00

On Barchart's S&P 400 midcap 400 new highs list today: Terex (TEX)

Barchart technical indicators:

100% Barchart technical buy signal
Trend Spotter buy signal
Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
16 new highs and up 64.32% in the last month
Relative Strength Index 82.23%
Barchart computes a technical support level at 20.95
Recently traded at 22.37 with a 50 day moving average of 15.41

Valspar - VAL - new highs

2012-01-26T10:11:00.000-05:00

On Barchart's S&P 400 midcap new high list today: Valspar (VAL)

Barchart technical indicators:

80% Barchart technical buy signal
Trend Spotter buy signal
Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
16 new highs and up 10.06% in the last month
Relative Strength Index 73.69%
Barchart computes a technical support level at 42.45
Recently traded at 42.60 with a 50 day moving average of 38.03

Idexx Labs -IDXX - hits new highs

2012-01-26T09:58:00.000-05:00

On Barchart's S&P 400 midcap new highs list today: Indexx Labs (IDXX)

Barchart technical indicators:

96% Barchart technical buy signal
Trend Spotter buy signal
Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving average
17 new highs and up 13.18% in the past month
Relative Strength Index 81.61%
Barchart computes a technical support level at 84.61
Recently traded at 87.27 with a 50 day moving average of 76.91

Barchart Morning Call 1/26

2012-01-26T09:48:00.000-05:00

Barchart Morning Call

Barchart.com - 1 hr 41 mins ago

Overnight Developments

Global stocks this morning are mostly higher with the Euro Stoxx 50 up +0.46% and Mar S&Ps up +3.90 points at a 6-month high. Commodities and Treasuries gained, with copper at a 4-1/4 month high, while the dollar index fell to a 1-1/2 month low on carry-over reaction to yesterday's signal from the Fed that it plans to maintain near-zero interest rates through 2014. The euro climbed to a 1-month high against the dollar on optimism Greece is making progress in talks for a debt-swap deal after the Greek newspaper Ethnos reported that private creditors will submit a new offer that Greek bonds issued as part of a debt exchange should carry a weighted-average coupon of 3.75%. Other positive factors for the euro and stocks were the unexpected +0.2 point increase in the Feb German GfK consumer confidence survey to a 10-month high of 5.9 along with the decline in Italian borrowing costs after Italy sold 4.5 billion euros of zero-coupon 2014 debt, the maximum target, at a yield of 3.783%, down from a similar-maturity auction last month of 4.853%.
Asian stocks today closed mixed with Japan down -0.39%, China, Australia and India closed for holiday, South Korea +0.15%. Asian stocks were supported after the Fed extended its pledge to keep interest rates near record lows, which boosted exporters on optimism the Fed's actions will keep the U.S. economy expanding and strengthen exporters' earnings. Mining companies gained as gold and copper prices climbed to 1-1/2 month highs, while energy producers also rallied as crude oil climbed above $100 a barrel. Japanese stocks were undercut after Japan's Finance Ministry said the country's public debt will probably exceed a quadrillion yen for the first time next year as it projects public borrowings to rise to 1,086 trillion yen ($14 trillion) in the year ending Mar 2013, which adds pressure on the government to raise taxes to restore the nation's finances. Also limiting gains in Asian markets are growth concerns after Q4 South Korea GDP expanded +04% q/q, weaker than expectations of +0.5% q/q.

Overnight U.S. Stock News

March S&Ps this morning are trading up +3.90 points at a fresh 6-month high. The US stock market on Wednesday settled higher after the Fed said interest rates will remain at record lows until at least 2014 and after technology stocks surged when Apple reported stellar earnings: Dow Jones +0.64%, S&P 500 +0.87%, Nasdaq Composite +1.14%. The S&P 500 posted a 6-month high, the Dow posted an 8-1/2 month high and the Nasdaq posted a 10-3/4 year high. Bullish factors on Wednesday included (1) the action by the Fed to extend its pledge to hold interest rates at record lows until late 2014 from an Aug pledge to keep rates "exceptionally low" at least through 2013 as Fed Chairman Bernanke said the Fed aims to support a "stronger" recovery, (2) the unexpected increase in the Nov FHFA house price purchase only index (+1.0% m/m versus expectations of unchanged), (3) strength in technology stocks after Apple reported its quarterly profit more than doubled, and (4) a decent start to Q4 earnings season as 66% of the 112 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings results since Jan 9 have beaten per-share earnings estimates.
Bearish factors included (1) carry-over weakness from a decline in European stocks after the ECB was said to be firmly opposed to any restructuring of its Greek bond holdings, which fuels concern that Greece may yet default on its debt as a solution to its debt swap remains unresolved, (2) the weaker-than-expected Dec pending U.S. home sales (-3.5% m/m versus expectations of -1.0% m/m), and (3) the Fed's cut in its 2012 U.S. growth forecast to between 2.2% and 2.7%, down from a Nov forecast of between 2.5% and 2.9%.
Netflix (NFLX) surged 18% in pre-market trading after the company reported late yesterday Q4 EPS of 73 cents a share, well ahead of analysts' estimates of 54 cents.

Today's Market Focus

March 10-year T-notes this morning are up +14.5 ticks. T-note prices on Wednesday settled higher after the Fed said it will keep the Fed funds rate at a record low at least until late 2014: TYH2 +21.5, FVH2 +16.0, EDM2 +.020. Bullish factors included (1) the Fed's dovish post-FOMC statement that said the Fed funds rate will stay at a record low until at least late 2014, which extends their pledge from Aug 9 that the Fed funds rate will remain "exceptionally low" at least through mid-2013, as they anticipate unemployment will remain high and inflation "subdued," (2) the weaker-than-expected Dec pending U.S. home sales (-3.5% m/m versus expectations of -1.0% m/m), and (3) strong demand for the Treasury's $35 billion auction of 5-year T-notes that had a bid-to-cover ratio of 3.17, better than the 12-auction average of 2.86 and the highest in 8 months. Bearish factors included (1) the unexpected increase in the Nov FHFA house price purchase only index (+1.0% m/m versus expectations of unchanged) and (2) supply pressures ahead of the Treasury's $29 billion auction of 7-year T-notes on Thursday.
The dollar index this morning is weaker and at a 1-1/2 month low with the dollar/yen -0.14 yen and the euro/dollar +0.41 cents. The dollar index on Wednesday shed an early advance and slumped to a 1-monthlow and settled lower after the Fed extended its pledge to hold interest rates at record lows until late 2014: Dollar Index -0.289, USDJPY +0.107, EURUSD +0.00700. Bearish factors included (1) the Fed's post-FOMC statement that said the Fed funds rate will stay at a record low until at least late 2014, which extends their pledge from Aug 9 that the Fed funds rate will remain "exceptionally low" at least through mid-2013 and weakens the dollar's interest rate differentials, and (2) the larger-than-expected increase in the Jan German IFO business climate to a 5-month high, which is euro supportive. Bullish factors included (1) euro negative comments from 2 people familiar with the Governing Council's stance of the ECB who said that the ECB was firmly opposed to any restructuring of its Greek bond holdings and (2) weakness in the yen which fell to a 1-3/4 month low against the dollar after Dec Japan exports fell -8.0% y/y, weaker than expectations of -7.4% y/y as Japan posted an annual trade shortfall in 2011 of -2.49 trillion yen (-$32 billion), it's first annual trade deficit in 31 years.
Mar crude oil prices this morning are up +$1.24 a barrel and Mar gasoline is +1.21 cents per gallon. Crude oil and gasoline prices on Wednesday settled higher after the dollar slumped when the Fed said its will extend its record low interest rates and on gasoline supply concerns after Hess Corp. said it will close its gasoline-making Port Reading refinery for repairs: CLH12 +$0.45, RBH12 +2.69. Mar gasoline rallied to a 3-1/4 month high. Bullish factors included (1) weakness in the dollar after the Fed said that interest rates will stay low until at least 2014, extending its earlier pledge that rates would stay low through at least 2013, (2) strength in gasoline after Hess Corp said it will close its gasoline-making Port Reading refinery in New Jersey for repairs, which will tighten gasoline supplies on the U.S. East Coast, (3) the unexpected -390,000 bbl decline in weekly DOE gasoline inventories, weaker than expectations of a +2.0 million bbl build, (4) the -2.8% w/w drop in U.S. gasoline production to 8.54 million bbl for the week ended Jan 20, the lowest gasoline output in nearly 2 years, and (5) the larger-than-expected fall in the weekly U.S. refinery utilization rate to its lowest in 8-1/2 months (-1.5 to 82.2% versus expectations of -0.6 to 83.1%), which indicates diminished output of gasoline and distillates in the weeks ahead. Bearish factors included (1) the larger-than-expected increase in weekly DOE crude supplies (+3.56 million bbl versus expectations of +1.5 million bbl) and (2) comments from a person familiar with OPEC's policy who said OPEC members would replace any loss in supply caused by the EU's ban on crude imports from Iran.

Today's U.S. Earnings Reports Earnings reports (confirmed releases, sorted by mkt cap): T-AT&T (BEST earnings consensus $0.43), CAT-Caterpillar (1.73), MMM-3M Co. (1.31), AMGN-Amgen (1.23), BMY-Bristol-Myers Squibb (0.55), CL-Colgate-Palmolive (1.29), SBUX-Starbucks (0.49), CELG-Celgene (1.05), BAX- Baxter International (1.17), LMT-Lockheed Martin (1.95), PCP-Precision Castparts (2.21), COV-Covidien PLC (1.03), TWC-Time Warner Cable (1.21), CB-Chubb (1.60), RTN-Raytheon (1.34), ETN-Eaton (1.12).
Global Financial Calendar

Thursday 1/26/12
United States
0830 ET	Weekly initial unemployment claims expected +18,000 to 370,000, previous -50,000 to 352,000. Weekly continuing claims expected +68,000 to 3.500 million, previous 215,000 to 3.432 million.
0830 ET	Dec durable goods orders expected +2.0% and +0.9% ex transportations, Nov +3.7% and +0.3% ex transportation.
1000 ET	Dec leading indicators expected +0.7%, Nov +0.5%.
1000 ET	Dec new home sales expected +1.9% to 321,000, Nov +1.6% to 315,000.
1300 ET	Treasury auctions $29 billion 7-year T-notes.
1630 ET	Weekly money supply report and Fed balance sheet.
Germany
0200 ET	Feb German GfK consumer confidence survey expected unchanged at 5.6, Jan unchanged at 5.6.
France
0245 ET	Jan French consumer confidence indicator expected unchanged at 80, Dec unchanged at 80.
United Kingdom
0600 ET	Jan U.K. CBI reported sales expected -6, Dec 9.
Japan
1830 ET	Jan Tokyo CPI expected -0.4% y/y, Dec -0.4% y/y. Jan Tokyo CPI ex-fresh food expected -0.3% y/y, Dec 0.3% y/y. Jan Tokyo CPI ex food & energy expected -1.0% y/y, Dec -1.1% y/y.
1830 ET	Dec Japan national CPI expected -0.2% y/y, Nov -0.5% y/y. Dec national CPI ex-fresh food expected -0.1% y/y, Nov -0.2% y/y. Dec national CPI ex food & energy expected -1.1% y/y, Nov -1.1% y/y.
1850 ET	Dec Japan retail trade expected +0.4% m/m and +2/0% y/y, Nov -2.0% m/m and -2.2% y/y.

Barchart.com provides Financial Quotes, Charts and Technical Analysis for Stock and Commodity Traders.

Regeneron Pharma - Barchart Chart of the Day

2012-01-26T09:41:00.000-05:00

Barchart.com's Chart of the Day - Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN)

Barchart Research Team - Barchart.com - Wed Jan 25, 7:27PM CST

Related Stocks

REGN - Regeneron Pharmaceuticals

Sym	Last	Chg	Pct
REGN	82.90	+3.49	+4.39%

The "Chart of the Day" is Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN), which showed up on Wednesday's Barchart "All Time High" list. Regeneron on Wednesday posted a new all-time high of $83.14 and closed up 4.39%. TrendSpotter has been Long since Jan 5 at $60.94. In recent news on the stock, Roth Capital downgraded Regeneron to Neutral from Buy with a target of $78 on valuation concerns. Regeneron on Jan 10 rallied 14.9% after Eylea sales beat expectations. RW Baird on Jan 10 upgraded Regeneron to Outperform from Neutral and raised its target to $81 from $56. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, with a market cap of $7.2 billion, is a biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops, and commercializes therapeutic drugs for the treatment of serious medical conditions.

How we found the Chart of the Day:
We found the "Chart of the Day" by scanning the Barchart "All Time High" list. In order to get to that list, we first clicked on the Stocks menu item on the Barchart home page, then on the "All Time Highs" menu item on the left menu bar. We then sorted the list by percentage gainers by clicking on the "Percent" column title. A stock that has posted a new All-Time high is typically showing strong upside momentum.
The status of Barchart's Opinion trading systems are listed below. Please note that the Barchart Opinion indicators are updated live during the session every 10 minutes and can therefore change during the day as the market fluctuates. The indicator numbers shown below therefore may not match what you see live on the Barchart.com web site when you read this report.

TrendSpotter: Buy
Short-Term Indicators: 80% Buy
Medium-Term Indicators: 100% Buy
Long-Term Indicators: 33% Buy
Overall Average 80% Buy

Chart of the Day Archive
View Past Chart of the Day Reports

Carnival Cruises (CCL) is sinking again

2012-01-25T10:54:00.000-05:00

Carnival Cruises (CCL) is having one fiasco after another. I had just about talked my wife into an ocean cruise when the Costa Concordia owned by Carnival hit the rocks and sank on January 13th. I was watching the news on January 24th just as divers pulled another missing body from the wreckage. I could hear the postman's truck coming down the street and went to get my mail.

To my surprise there was a joint mailing from Carnival Cruises (CCL) and American Express (AXP) offering me a $100 on board credit if I would book a cruise on the already sunk Costa Concordia. I called the 800 number on the offer to give them my opinion that it was not only in poor taste but a marketing blunder by them for not pulling a mailing weeks after the ship had sunk.

To my surprise instead of getting an apology and maybe a offering of a discount on another cruise - which is what I would have done if I managed the call center - the phone rep started ripping me a new one. When I voiced that I thought she was out of line and asked to speak to a supervisor she really let loose on me again and hung up on me.

I was stunned! Here was an opportunity to perform damage control and market to a potential customer another cruise and they chose to blow it by attacking me.

I wasn't a new customer. Last summer my mother and I took a very enjoyable 14 day cruise to Alaska on the Holland America ship called the Amsterdam and thought the $12,000 total we spent on the cruise was a great value.

Enough about how poorly Carnival is handling this disaster let's look at the numbers. They tell me more than just the ship has hit the rocks:

Barchart technical indicators:

96% Barchart technical sell signal
Trend Spotter sell signal
Below it's 20, 50 and 100 day moving average
35.44% off its previous 1 year high
Relative strength Index 41.15% and sinking
Recently traded at 30.79 which is below its 50 day moving average of 32.73

Caterpillar - CAT - new highs

2012-01-24T09:51:00.001-05:00

On Barchart's S&P 500 new highs list this morning: Caterpillar (CAT)

Barchart technical indicators:

96% Barchart technical buy signal
Trend Spotter buy signal
Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
14 new highs and up 15.31% in the last month
Relative Strength Index 76.20%
Barchart computes a technical support level at 104.82
Recently traded at 105.25 with a 50 day moving average of 94.64

Cummins - CMI - new highs

2012-01-24T09:39:00.000-05:00

On Barchart's S&P 500 new highs list today: Cummins (CMI)

Barchart technical indicators:

96% Barchart technical buy signal
Trend Spotter buy signal
Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
14 new highs and up 18.45% in the last month
Relative Strength Index 70.64%
Barchart computes a technical support level at 103.29
Recently traded at 105.50 with a 50 day moving average of 93.78

Harmon International - HAR - new highs

2012-01-24T09:28:00.000-05:00

On Barchart's S&P 500 new highs list today: Harmon (HAR)

Barchart technical indicators:

96% Barchart technical buy signal
Trend Spotter buy signal
Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
14 new highs and up 16.73% in the last month
Relative Strength Index 69.05%
Barchart computes a technical support level at 42.48
Recently traded at 43.88 with a 50 day moving average of 39.45

JM Smucker - SJM - Barchart Chart of the Day

2012-01-24T09:19:00.000-05:00

Barchart.coms Chart of the Day - J.M. Smucker Company (SJM)

Barchart Research Team - Barchart.com - Mon Jan 23, 4:12PM CST

Related Stocks

SJM - J.M. Smucker Company

Sym	Last	Chg	Pct
SJM	81.06	+0.68	+0.85%

The "Chart of the Day" is J.M. Smucker Company (SJM), which showed up on Monday's Barchart "All Time High" list. Smucker on Monday posted a new all-time high of $81.25 and closed up 0.85%. TrendSpotter has been Long since Dec 20 at $78.39. In recent news on the stock, JP Morgan on Nov 18 added Smucker to its Focus List and reiterated its Overweight rating. Barron's on Nov 18 ran a favorable article on Smucker, saying the company should benefit from recent price increases and that its brands should give it leverage with retailers and resonate with consumers as the economy improves. J.M. Smucker Company, with a market cap of $9 billion, is the leading marketer of jams, jellies, preserves, and other fruit spreads in the U.S.

How we found the Chart of the Day:
We found the "Chart of the Day" by scanning the Barchart "All Time High" list. In order to get to that list, we first clicked on the Stocks menu item on the Barchart home page, then on the "All Time Highs" menu item on the left menu bar. We then sorted the list by percentage gainers by clicking on the "Percent" column title. A stock that has posted a new All-Time high is typically showing strong upside momentum.
The status of Barchart's Opinion trading systems are listed below. Please note that the Barchart Opinion indicators are updated live during the session every 10 minutes and can therefore change during the day as the market fluctuates. The indicator numbers shown below therefore may not match what you see live on the Barchart.com web site when you read this report.

TrendSpotter: Buy
Short-Term Indicators: 100% Buy
Medium-Term Indicators: 100% Buy
Long-Term Indicators: 100% Buy
Overall Average 100% Buy

Chart of the Day Archive
View Past Chart of the Day Reports

Barchart Morning Call 1/24

2012-01-24T09:16:00.000-05:00

Barchart Morning Call

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 07:00:00 -0600

Overnight Developments

Global stocks this morning are mostly lower with the Euro Stoxx 50 down -0.73% and Mar S&Ps down -7.10 points. The dollar strengthened, Treasuries rose and most commodities fell amid a stalemate in Greek debt talks. European finance chiefs are seeking coupons on Greek debt below 3.5% to be serviced until 2020 and below 4% for Greek debt that will be serviced for 30 years, while the private creditors of Greek debt want an average 4% interest rate on the new Greek bonds. A decline in bank stocks led losses in European stocks as Societe Generale and Credit Agricole both fell more than 5% after they both had their ratings downgraded to A from A+ by Standard & Poor's. The euro rose to a 2-1/2 week high against the dollar after a report showed European services and manufacturing industries unexpectedly expanded this month. The Jan Euro-Zone PMI composite rose +2.1 to 50.4, stronger than expectations of +0.2 to 48.5 and its best level in 5 months. The euro also received a boost as Spain's borrowing costs declined after its government sold 2.51 billion euros of 3 and 6-month bills, meeting the maximum target for the sale.
Asian stocks today closed mostly higher with Japan up +0.22%, China and South Korea closed for holiday, Australia -0.92%, India +1.46%. Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Index advanced to a 2-1/2 month high as the yen slid to a 3-week low against the dollar, which boosts the earnings prospects of exporters. Japanese stocks gained despite the action by the BOJ to cut its 2012 growth outlook to 2.0% from an Oct estimate of 2.2% on concern the European debt crisis will slow exports and keep the yen near a record high. The BOJ also kept the benchmark lending rate at 0.00 to 0.10% and maintained its asset-buying fund at 20 trillion yen ($230 billion) and its credit-lending program at 35 trillion yen. India's Sensex Stock Index rallied to a 2-1/4 month high after the RBI cut banks' cash reserve ratio to 5.5% from 6.0%, the first cut in the reserve ration since 2009.

Overnight U.S. Stock News

March S&Ps this morning are trading down -7.10 points. The US stock market on Monday relinquished an early rally and settled mixed on profit taking: Dow Jones -0.09%, S&P 500 +0.05%, Nasdaq Composite -0.09%. The S&P 500 posted a 5-3/4 month high, the Dow rose to an 8-1/2 month high and the Nasdaq climbed to a 10-3/4 year high. Bearish factors on Monday included (1) concerns over global economic growth after Germany's Bundesbank said that economic growth in Germany may have come to a "standstill" in Q4 of 2011 because of the European debt crisis, (2) profit-taking in stocks as the S&P 500 has rallied over 14% in the past 2-months up to Monday's 5-3/4 month high, and (3) the increase in the 10-year T-note yield to a 1-1/2 month high of 2.09%.
Bullish factors included (1) speculation EU finance ministers will make progress in solving the region's sovereign-debt crisis after French Finance Minister Baroin said negotiations between Greece and its private creditors were making "tangible progress," (2) comments from IMF Managing Director Lagarde who said that efforts to secure additional IMF resources of $500 billion are "on the optimistic side," and (3) strength in energy and raw-material producers as a weaker dollar prompted a broad-based rally in most commodities and as crude oil gained when the EU said it agreed to adopt sanctions that will ban imports of crude and oil products from Iran starting Jul 1.

Today's Market Focus

March 10-year T-notes this morning are up +5 ticks. T-note prices on Monday fell to a 3-1/2 week low and closed lower for a fourth day on speculation EU finance ministers will make progress in solving the region's sovereign-debt crisis and reduce the safe-haven demand for Treasuries: TYH2 -9.0, FVH2 -2.2, EDM2 +1.5. The 10-year T-note yield climbed to a 1-1/2 month high of 2.092%. Bearish factors included (1) reduced safe-haven demand for Treasuries on signs European officials are moving closer to resolving the region's debt crisis after French Finance Minister Baroin said negotiations between Greece and its private creditors were making "tangible progress," (2) technical selling after the 10-year T-note yield rose to a 1-1/2 month high, and (3) the action by JPMorgan to raise its Q1 estimate for the 10-year T-note yield to 2.25% from 1.7%, saying it has turned "mildly bearish" on Treasuries as funding conditions in Europe improve and cash flows out of U.S. government bond funds. Bullish factors included (1) global economic growth concerns after Germany's Bundesbank said that economic growth in Germany may have come to a "standstill" in Q4 of 2011 because of the European debt crisis and (2) the action by the Fed to purchase $1.745 billion of long-term Treasuries as part of its Operation Twist program to replace $400 billion of short-term debt in its portfolio with longer-term Treasuries in an effort to keep long-term rates low.
The dollar index this morning is higher with the dollar/yen +0.26 yen and the euro/dollar -0.03 cents. The dollar index on Monday fell to a 2-1/2 week low and settled lower after the euro rallied on speculation EU finance ministers will find a solution to the region's debt crisis: Dollar Index -0.440, USDJPY unchanged, EURUSD +0.00831. Bearish factors included (1) strength in the euro which rallied to a 2-1/2 week high against the dollar after French Finance Minister Baroin said negotiations between Greece and its private creditors were making "tangible progress," (2) the unexpected +0.7 point increase in Jan Euro-Zone consumer confidence, which is euro supportive, and (3) fuel for further short-covering in the euro after CFTC data showed that large traders and fund managers increased their net short positions in the euro to a record 160,030 contracts in the week ended Jan 17. Bearish factors included (1) the unexpected -3 point decline in Jan French business confidence to a 23-month low of 91, which is euro negative and (2) the statement from Germany's Bundesbank that economic growth in Germany may have come to a "standstill" in Q4 of 2011 because of the European debt crisis.
Mar crude oil prices this morning are down -37 cents a barrel and Mar gasoline is -0.56 of a cent per gallon. Crude oil and gasoline prices on Monday finished mixed as a weak dollar and a EU agreement to ban crude imports from Iran boosted crude, while economic growth concerns undercut gasoline: CLH12 +$1.25, RBH12 -0.47. Mar crude recovered from a 1-month low and closed higher. Bullish factors included (1) the slide in the dollar index to a 2-1/2 week low, which boosts investment demand in most commodities, (2) the action by the EU to agree to ban crude and crude products from Iran starting Jul 1 in an effort to pressure the country over its nuclear program, and (3) the statement from Iran's deputy head of foreign affairs and national security who said "If any disruption happens regarding the sale of Iranian oil, the Strait of Hormuz will definitely be closed." Bearish factors included (1) the unexpected decline in Jan French business confidence to a 23-month low, which may lead to reduced economic activity and energy demand and (2) the statement from Germany's Bundesbank that economic growth in Germany may have come to a "standstill" in Q4 of 2011 because of the European debt crisis, which signals reduced fuel demand and consumption.

Today's U.S. Earnings Reports Earnings reports (confirmed releases, sorted by mkt cap): AAPL-Apple (BEST earnings consensus $10.11), JNJ-Johnson & Johnson (1.09), VZ-Verizon Communications (0.53), MCD-McDonolds (1.30), EMC-EMC Corp. (0.46), DD-EI du Pont de Nemours & Co. (0.33), KMB-Kimberly-Clark (1.30), NSC-Norfolk Southern (1.40), TRV-Travelers Cos. (1.52), BHI-Baker Hughes (1.32), SYK-Stryker (1.02), YHOO-Yahoo! (0.24), APD-Air Products & Chemicals (1.36), COH-Coach (1.15), ALTR-Altera (0.42), BTU-Peabody Energy (1.31), HOG-Harley-Davidson (0.22).
Global Financial Calendar

Tuesday 1/24/12
United States
0745 ET	ICSC (Intl Council of Shopping Centers) weekly retailer sales.
0855 ET	Redbook weekly retailer sales.
0930 ET	FOMC begins 2-day policy meeting.
1000 ET	Jan Richmond Fed manufacturing index expected +4 to 7, Dec +3 to 3.
1130 ET	Weekly 4-week T-bill auction.
1300 ET	Treasury auctions $35 billion 2-year T-notes.
2100 ET	2012 State of the Union Address.
France
0300 ET	Jan French PMI manufacturing expected -0.3 to 48.6, Dec +1.6 to 48.9.
0300 ET	Jan French PMI services expected -0.3 to 50.0, Dec +0.7 to 50.3.
Germany
0330 ET	Jan German PMI manufacturing expected +0.6 to 49.0, Dec +0.5 to 48.4.
0330 ET	Jan German PMI services expected unchanged at 52.4, Dec +2.1 to 52.4.
Euro-Zone
0400 ET	Jan Euro-Zone PMI composite expected +0.2 to 48.5, Dec +1.3 to 48.3.
0500 ET	Nov Euro-Zone industrial new orders expected -2.2% m/m and -2.7% y/y, Oct +1.8% m/m and +1.6% y/y.
0905 ET	ECB Executive Board member Jose Manuel Gonzalez-Paramo speaks at an event in New York.
United Kingdom
0430 ET	Dec U.K. public sector net borrowing expected +12.1 billion pounds, Nov +15.2 billion pounds.
Canada
0830 ET	Nov Canada retail sales expected +0.2% and +0.1% less autos, Oct +1.0% and +0.7% less autos.
Japan
1850 ET	Dec Japan merchandise trade balance expected -154.9 billion yen, Nov -687.6 billion yen. Dec exports expected -7.4% y/y, Nov -4.5% y/y. Dec imports expected +8.0% y/y, Nov +11.4% y/y.

Barchart.com provides Financial Quotes, Charts and Technical Analysis for Stock and Commodity Traders.

Country Style Cooking - CCSC - new highs

2012-01-23T12:17:00.000-05:00

Country Style Cooking - (CCSC) was on Barchart's new high list today

Barchart technical indicators:

40% Barchart technical buy signal
Trend Spotter buy signal
Above its 20 and 50 day moving average but still below its 100 day moving average
14 new highs and up 32.80% in the last month
Relative Strength Index 69.01%
Barchart computes a technical support level at 9.97
Recently traded at 10.00 with a 50 day moving average of 9.38

Cardero Resources - CDY - buy signals

2012-01-23T11:58:00.000-05:00

Cardero Resources (CDY) was on the Barchart new high list today

Barchart technical indicators:

100% Barchart technical buy signal
Trend Spotter buy signal
Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
15 new highs and up 40.43% in the last month
Relative Strength Index 74.40%
Barchart computes a technical support level at 1.26
Recently traded at 1.33 with a 50 day moving average of 1.08

Honda Motors - HMC - buy signals

2012-01-23T11:46:00.000-05:00

This morning Honda Motors (HMC) is on Barchart's new high list.

Barchart technical indicators:

96% Barchart technical buy signal
Trend Spotter buy signal
Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
15 new highs and up 15.47% in the last month
Relative Strength Index 77.69%
Barchart computes a technical support level at 34.44
Recently traded at 34.92% with a 50 day moving average of 30.71

Bristol-Myers Squibb - BMY - sell signals

2012-01-23T11:31:00.000-05:00

This morning I deleted Bristol-Myers Squibb - BMY - from the Barchart Van Meerten New High portfolio for negative price momentum:

Barchart technical indicators:

40% Barchart short term technical sell signal
Trend Spotter sell signal
Below its 20 and 50 day moving average but still above its 100 day moving average
7.82% off its 1 year high
Relative Strength Index 35.44% and falling
Barchart computes a technical support level at 32.35

Taser International - TASR - deleted

2012-01-23T11:18:00.000-05:00

This morning I deleted Taser International (TASR) for the Barchart Van Meerten New High portfolio for negative price momentum.

Barchart technical indicators:

80% Barchart short term technical sell signal
Trend Spotter sell signal
Below its 20, 50 and 100 day moving average
23.73% off its 1 year high
Barchart computes a technical support level at 4.85
Relative strength Index 35.56%

Barchart Morning Call 1/23

2012-01-23T11:11:00.000-05:00

Barchart Morning Call

Barchart.com - Mon Jan 23, 7:00AM CST

Overnight Developments

Global stocks this morning are mostly higher with the Euro Stoxx 50 up +0.35% and Mar S&Ps up +1.00 point at a 5-3/4 month high. The dollar index fell to a 3-1/2 week low and most commodities rose with Feb gold at a 5-week high as European finance ministers gathered in Brussels to discuss new budget rules and a Greek debt swap. The euro rose to a 2-1/2 week high against the dollar and yields on Greek government debt fell after the FT Deutschland reported that unnamed government officials said negotiators for Greece and the IIF broadly agreed on terms of a debt swap over the weekend. Crude oil rose in overnight electronic trade after Dutch Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal said EU foreign ministers adopted sanctions that will ban imports of crude and oil products from Iran as of Jul 1 as part of measures to ratchet up pressure on Iran's nuclear program. Limiting gains in European stocks was the statement from Germany's Bundesbank that economic growth in Germany may have come to a "standstill" in Q4 of 2011 because of the European debt crisis, while Jan French business confidence unexpectedly fell -3 points to a 23-month low of 91, weaker than expectations of a +1 point increase to 95.
Asian stocks today closed mixed with Japan down -0.01%, China and South Korea closed for holiday, Australia -0.34%, India +0.08%. Asian exporters rallied as rising home sales in the U.S. bolstered the view the U.S. economy will continue to strengthen while falling European borrowing costs add to optimism that the region's debt crisis may be easing. Japanese internet-related companies rose after BNP Paribas said the sector may be undervalued, while Moody?s Investors Service said the action by China to slow non-bank financing growth will help it to achieve a ?soft landing? and reduce concerns about systemic risk. Limiting gains in Asian stocks were losses in companies that receive revenue from Europe as EU finance ministers continue to craft a long-term plan to tackle the region's debt crisis while Greek government negotiators continue to try to reach agreement that will lighten the country's debt burden.

Overnight U.S. Stock News

March S&Ps this morning are trading up +1.00 point. The US stock market on Friday settled mixed as strong earnings from IBM lifted the Dow to a 6-month high while weaker-than-expected U.S. existing home sales and concerns over Chinese economic growth pressured the overall market: Dow Jones +0.76%, S&P 500 +0.07%, Nasdaq Composite -0.06%. Bullish factors on Friday included (1) strength in the Dow after gains in IBM, which compromises 11% of the share-price weighting of the Dow, when the company forecast earnings will increase to at least $14.85 a share this year, better than analysts' estimates of $14.81, (2) strength in technology stocks after Microsoft gained when it said Christmas sales were strong for its video-game consoles and its Kinect sensor controllers and a rally in Intel which rose after it predicted strong Q1 revenue and said the shortage of disk drives that had slowed personal computer production may be ending and (3) optimism that European officials are moving closer to resolving the region's debt crisis after a draft of a budget treaty obtained by Bloomberg showed European governments are working toward tougher rules on budget deficits.
Bearish factors included (1) concern over Chinese economic growth after the Jan HSBC flash China manufacturing PMI rose +0.1 to 48.4 and shows China's manufacturing activity may have contracted for a third month, (2) the smaller-than-expected increase in Dec existing home sales (+5.0% to 4.61 million versus expectations of +5.2% to 4.65 million), and (3) comments from IMF Managing Director Lagarde who said the world economy is decelerating and faces "significant and urgent challenges."

Today's Market Focus

March 10-year T-notes this morning are down -3.5 ticks. T-note prices on Friday fell to a 2-week low and settled lower on reduced safe-haven demand from the European debt crisis on signs European leaders are making progress resolving the crisis along with technical selling after the 10-year T-note yield climbed above 2.00%: TYH2 -14.0, FVH2 -5.5, EDM2 unchanged. Bearish factors included (1) reduced safe-haven demand for Treasuries on signs European officials are moving closer to resolving the region's debt crisis after a draft of a budget treaty obtained by Bloomberg showed European governments are working toward tougher rules on budget deficits as the budget treaty will require a centralized "correction mechanism" to be triggered automatically in cases of "significant" deviations from a target structural deficit of 0.5% of GDP and (2) technical selling and long liquidation of T-notes after the 10-year yield climbed above 2.00%. Bullish factors included (1) the smaller-than-expected increase in Dec existing home sales (+5.0% to 4.61 million versus expectations of +5.2% to 4.65 million) and (2) comments from IMF Managing Director Lagarde who said the world economy is decelerating and faces "significant and urgent challenges."
The dollar index this morning is weaker and at a 2-1/2 week low with the dollar/yen -0.09 yen and the euro/dollar +0.66 cents. The dollar index on Friday rebounded from a 2-week low and settled higher as the euro weakened on disappointment that talks between Greece and its creditors dragged on for a third day without resolution: Dollar Index +0.007, USDJPY -0.080, EURUSD -0.00389. Bullish factors included (1) a drop in the euro on disappointment that a meeting between Greek officials and private creditors on a debt swap plan failed find a resolution after 3 days of meetings and (2) concern that global growth may slow further after the Jan HSBC flash China manufacturing PMI rose +0.1 to 48.4 and shows China's manufacturing activity contracted for a third month. Bearish factors included (1) reduced demand for dollars after the 3-month cross-currency basis swap, the rate banks pay to convert euro interest payments into dollars, narrowed to 76 bp below the euro interbank offered rate, the lowest in 5-1/4 months and (2) strength in the British pound which rallied to a 2-week high against the dollar after Dec U.K. retail sales increased.
Mar crude oil prices this morning are up +86 cents a barrel and Mar gasoline is +1.27 cents per gallon. Crude oil and gasoline prices Friday settled lower after a preliminary reading of Chinese manufacturing activity contracted for a third month in Jan and as Greek debt talks dragged on for a third day, which fueled concern the European debt crisis may worsen and slow European growth and fuel demand: CLH12 -$2.21, RBH12 -3.25. Bearish factors included (1) the stronger dollar, which undercuts most commodities, (2) the +0.1 increase in the Jan HSBC flash China manufacturing PMI to 48.8, which indicates Chinese manufacturing activity may contract for a third month and reduce energy demand and consumption, (3) concern the European debt crisis may not be resolved anytime soon as a meeting between Greek officials and private creditors on a debt swap plan failed to resolve their differences after a third day of meetings, and (4) comments from IMF Managing Director Lagarde who said the world economy is decelerating and faces "significant and urgent challenges." Bullish factors included (1) the increase in Dec U.S. existing home sales to an 11-month high, which signals economic strength that may lead to increased fuel demand and (2) ongoing tensions between Iran and Western nations that may lead to a disruption in Middle East oil exports after Iran's ambassador to Russia said the deployment of the U.S. Navy in the Persian Gulf is a "provocation."

Today's U.S. Earnings Reports Earnings reports (confirmed releases, sorted by mkt cap): TXN-Texas Instruments (BEST earnings consensus $0.39), VMW-VMware (0.69), HAL-Halliburton (0.99), CSX-CSX Corp. (0.44), KSU-Kansas City Southern (0.79), WDC-Western Digital (0.71), ALB-Albemarle (1.10), ZION-Zions Bancorporation (0.33), PLCM-Polycom (0.29), WWD-Woodward (0.45), CR-Crane (0.90), ELS-Equity Lifestyle Properties (0.15), PKG-Packagng Corp of America (0.37), BOH-Bank of Hawaii (0.82), CATY-Cathay General Bancorp (0.29).
Global Financial Calendar

Monday 1/23/12
United States
1130 ET	Weekly 3-mo and 6-mo T-bill auctions.
France
0245 ET	Jan French business confidence indicator expected +1 to 95, Dec -2 to 94.
Canada
0830 ET	Dec Canada leading indicators, Nov +0.8%.
Euro-Zone
0515 ET	ECB Council members Jens Weidmann and Christian Noyer speak in Paris.
1000 ET	Jan Euro-Zone consumer confidence expected -0.3 to -21.4, Dec -0.7 to -21.1.
1100 ET	Euro-Zone finance ministers meet in Brussels.
n/a	Euro-Zone finance ministers meet to discuss how to respond to Standard & Poor?s downgrade of the European Financial Stability Facility.

Barchart.com provides Financial Quotes, Charts and Technical Analysis for Stock and Commodity Traders.

Chubb - CB - Barchart Chart of the Day

2012-01-23T11:05:00.000-05:00

Barchart.coms Chart of the Day - Chubb (CB)

Barchart Research Team - Barchart.com - Fri Jan 20, 4:58PM CST

Related Stocks

CB - Chubb Corp.

Sym	Last	Chg	Pct
CB	71.50	+0.53	+0.75%

The "Chart of the Day" is Chubb (CB), which showed up on Friday's Barchart "All Time High" list. Chubb on Friday rallied to a new all-time high of $70.99 and closed up 0.95%. TrendSpotter has been Long since Nov 30 at $67.44. In recent news on the stock, Barron's on Jan 4 ran a favorable article saying that an expected improvement in Chubb's commercial-underwriting business should allow Chubb to continue to outperform its peers. Credit Suisse on Dec 7 initiated research coverage on Chubb with an Outperform and a target of $75. Chubb Corp, with a market cap of $19 billion, is principally engaged in the property and casualty insurance business.

How we found the Chart of the Day:
We found the "Chart of the Day" by scanning the Barchart "All Time High" list. In order to get to that list, we first clicked on the Stocks menu item on the Barchart home page, then on the "All Time Highs" menu item on the left menu bar. We then sorted the list by percentage gainers by clicking on the "Percent" column title. A stock that has posted a new All-Time high is typically showing strong upside momentum.
The status of Barchart's Opinion trading systems are listed below. Please note that the Barchart Opinion indicators are updated live during the session every 10 minutes and can therefore change during the day as the market fluctuates. The indicator numbers shown below therefore may not match what you see live on the Barchart.com web site when you read this report.

TrendSpotter: Buy
Short-Term Indicators: 100% Buy
Medium-Term Indicators: 100% Buy
Long-Term Indicators: 100% Buy
Overall Average 100% Buy

Chart of the Day Archive
View Past Chart of the Day Reports

Cheniere Energy Partners LP - CQP - new highs

2012-01-20T09:38:00.000-05:00

On Barchart's new high list today: Cheniere Energy Partners LP - (CQP)

Barchart technical indicators:

100% Barchart technical buy signal
Trend Spotter buy signal
Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving average
15 new highs and up 60.87% in the last month
Relative Strength Index 77.62%
Barchart computes a technical support level at 19.92
Recently traded at 20.47 with a 50 day moving average of 17.33

Tri-Tech Holding - TRIT - new highs

2012-01-20T09:24:00.000-05:00

On Barchart's new high list today: Tri-Tech Holdings (TRIT)

Barchart technical indicators:

100% Barchart technical buy signal
Trend Spotter buy signal
Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
15 new highs and up 60.87% in the last month
Relative Strength Index 88.87%
Barchart computes a technical support level at 6.09
Recently traded at 6.66 with a 50 day moving average of 4.53

CVS Corp - CVS - new highs

2012-01-20T09:02:00.000-05:00

On Barchart's new high list today: CVS Corp (CVS)

Barchart technical indicators:

96% Barchart technical buy signal
Trend Spotter buy signal
Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving average
15 new highs and up 17.29% in the last month
Relative Strength Index 71.78%
Barchart computes a technical support level at 42.29
Recently traded at 42.88 with a 50 day moving average of 39.46

American Waterworks - AWK - Barchart Chart of the Day

2012-01-20T08:58:00.000-05:00

Barchart.coms Chart of the Day - American Water Works (AWK)

Barchart Research Team - Barchart.com - Thu Jan 19, 5:47PM CST

Related Stocks

AWK - American Water Works

Sym	Last	Chg	Pct
AWK	32.93	+0.49	+1.51%

The "Chart of the Day" is American Water Works (AWK), which showed up on Thursday's Barchart "All Time High." AWK on Thursday posted a new all-time high of $32.98 and closed up 1.51%. TrendSpotter has been Long since Dec 21 at $31.80. In recent news on the stock, AWK management offered guidance for FY2011 EPS of $1.75-$1.82 versus the consensus of $1.78 and FY2012 guidance of $1.90-2.00 versus the consensus of $1.91. Ladenburg on Jan 11 upgraded AWK to Buy from Neutral. American Water Works, with a market cap of $5.7 billion, is the largest investor-owned U.S. water and wastewater utility company.

How we found the Chart of the Day:
We found the "Chart of the Day" by scanning the Barchart "All Time High" list. In order to get to that list, we first clicked on the Stocks menu item on the Barchart home page, then on the "All Time Highs" menu item on the left menu bar. We then sorted the list by percentage gainers by clicking on the "Percent" column title. A stock that has posted a new All-Time high is typically showing strong upside momentum.
The status of Barchart's Opinion trading systems are listed below. Please note that the Barchart Opinion indicators are updated live during the session every 10 minutes and can therefore change during the day as the market fluctuates. The indicator numbers shown below therefore may not match what you see live on the Barchart.com web site when you read this report.

TrendSpotter: Buy
Short-Term Indicators: 100% Buy
Medium-Term Indicators: 100% Buy
Long-Term Indicators: 100% Buy
Overall Average 100% Buy

Chart of the Day Archive
View Past Chart of the Day Reports

Barchart Morning Call 1/20

2012-01-20T08:50:00.000-05:00

Barchart Morning Call

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 07:00:00 -0600

Overnight Developments

Global stocks this morning are mixed with the Euro Stoxx 50 down -0.41% and Mar S&Ps down -1.70 points. The dollar is higher and most commodities are lower as Greek officials and private creditors meeting for a third day struggle to reach agreement on a debt swap plan. Google plunged 8.0% in pre-market trading and is another negative factor pressuring stock prices after Google's Q4 profit of $9.50 a share was well below analysts' estimates of $10.50. Limiting losses in stocks is the decline in European banks' dollar funding costs after the 3-month cross-currency basis swap, the rate banks pay to convert euro interest payments into dollars, narrowed to 76 bp below the euro interbank offered rate, the lowest in 5-1/4 months.
Asian stocks today closed jigher with Japan up +1.47%, China +1.45%, Australia +0.59%, South Korea +2.13%, India +0.57%. A decline in European bond yields and a plunge in U.S. jobless claims to a 3-3/4 year low eased European debt crisis concerns and boosted Asian exporters, which sent Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Index to a 2-1/2 month high and China's Shanghai Stock Index to a 5-week high. Chinese stocks were also boosted by a report from Reuters that said China's State Council is reviewing a proposal to allow local pension funds to invest 10% to 20% of their assets in stocks. Chinese markets will be closed all of next week for the Lunar New Year holiday.

Overnight U.S. Stock News

March S&Ps this morning are trading down -1.70 points. The US stock market on Thursday settled higher for a third day as European debt concerns receded and after weekly initial U.S. jobless claims plunged to a 3-3/4 year low: Dow Jones +0.36%, S&P 500 +0.49%, Nasdaq Composite +0.67%. The S&P 500 and the Dow posted 5-1/2 month highs, while the Nasdaq rallied to a 10-3/4 year high. Bullish factors included (1) carry-over support from a rally in European stocks on reduced debt concerns after French borrowing costs dropped at an auction and Spain sold more bonds than its planned target, (2) continued improvement on the U.S. labor front after weekly initial U.S. unemployment claims dropped more than expected to their lowest level in 3-3/4 years (-50,000 to 352,000 versus expectations of -15,000 to 384,000), and (3) signs that China may relax credit controls and boost lending after 2 people with knowledge of the matter said the PBOC will let China's largest banks increase new loans by a maximum of 5% from a year earlier, while the banking regulator will delay implementing the most stringent capital adequacy ratios and may lower risk weightings for loans to small businessmen and companies.
Bearish factors on Thursday included (1) the bigger-than-expected decline in Dec housing starts (-4.1% to 657,000 versus expectations of -0.7% to 680,000), (2) the smaller-than-expected increase in the Jan Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index (+0.5 to 7.3 versus expectations of +3.5 to 10.3), and (3) the quarterly report from the European Commission that said the outlook for industry in the Euro-Zone has deteriorated.
Google (GOOG) sank 8.0% in pre-market trading after the company reported Q4 profit of $9.50 a share, well below analysts' estimates of $10.50.
International Business Machines (IBM) rose 2.0% in European trading after the company forecast earnings will increase to at least $14.85 a share this year, better than analysts' estimtes of $14.81.
Microsoft (MSFT) climbed 2.1% in pre-market trading after the company reported Q2 profit of 78 cents a share, beating analysts' estimates of 77 cents.

Today's Market Focus

March 10-year T-notes this morning are down -4.5 ticks. T-note prices on Thursday dropped to a 1-week low and settled lower after weekly U.S. jobless claims plunged and on reduced safe-haven demand for Treasuries when Spain and France had successful government bond auctions and stocks rallied: TYH2 -18.0, FVH2 -6.7, EDM2 unchanged. Bearish factors included (1) the larger-than-expected fall in weekly initial U.S. unemployment claims which dropped to their lowest level in 3-3/4 years (-50,000 to 352,000 versus expectations of -15,000 to 384,000) and (2) reduced safe-haven demand for Treasuries after French borrowing costs dropped at an auction and Spain sold more bonds than its planned target, which eases concern that European nations will struggle to finance their debts. Bullish factors included (1) the bigger-than-expected decline in Dec housing starts (-4.1% to 657,000 versus expectations of -0.7% to 680,000) and (2) the smaller-than-expected increase in the Jan Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index (+0.5 to 7.3 versus expectations of +3.5 to 10.3).
The dollar index this morning is higher with the dollar/yen +0.02 yen and the euro/dollar -0.53 cents. The dollar index on Thursday tumbled to a 2-week low and finished lower on reduced safe-haven demand after French borrowing costs dropped at an auction and Spain sold more bonds than its planned target and as the S&P 500 rallied to a 5-1/2 month high: Dollar Index -0.393, USDJPY +0.280, EURUSD +0.01050. Bearish factors included (1) strong demand for bond auctions of Spanish and French government debt, which boosts optimism the European sovereign debt crisis is being contained and reduces the safe-haven demand for the dollar and (2) ECB data that showed investors boosted holdings of euro assets by +2.4 billion euros in Nov, which indicates the European debt crisis has yet to cause widespread liquidation of euro assets. Bullish factors included (1) the plunge in weekly U.S. jobless claims to their lowest level in 3-3/4 years, which may boost economic growth and is dollar positive and (2) the quarterly report from the European Commission that said the outlook for industry in the Euro-Zone has deteriorated, which is euro negative.
Feb crude oil prices this morning are down -62 cents a barrel and Feb gasoline is -0.30 of a cent per gallon. Crude oil and gasoline prices Thursday settled lower on weak gasoline demand and after weekly DOE gasoline supplies rose more than expected to a 10-month high: CLG12 -$0.20, RBG12 -0.96. Bearish factors included (1) the larger-than-expected increase in weekly DOE gasoline supplies to their highest level in 10 months (+3.72 million bbl to 227.5 million bbl versus expectations of +2.35 million bbl), (2) slack demand after the DOE said U.S gasoline demand for the week ended Jan 13 fell -2.2% to 8 million barrels a day, the weakest in over 10 years, and (3) the weaker than expected Dec U.S. housing starts and Jan Philadelphia Fed manufacturing activity, which indicates reduced energy demand. Bullish factors included (1) the slide in the dollar index to a 2-week low, (2) the unexpected decline in weekly DOE crude supplies (-3.44 million bbl versus expectations of a +3.0 million bbl build), and (3) signs of strength in the labor market that may boost economic confidence and fuel demand after weekly initial U.S. unemployment claims fell to a 3-3/4 year low.

Today's U.S. Earnings Reports Earnings reports (confirmed releases, sorted by mkt cap): GE-General Electric (BEST earnings consensus $0.38), SLB-Schlumberger Ltd. (1.09), ED-Consolidated Edison (0.72), PH-Parker Hannifin (1.63), FITB-Fifth Third Bancorp (0.35), STI-SunTrust Banks (0.27), CMA-Comerica (0.51), FHN-First Horizon National (0.14), PB-Prosperity Bancshares (0.76), WABC-Westamerica Bancorporation (0.79), HTLD-Heartland Express (0.18), VIVO-Meridian Bioscience (0.19), RBCAA-Republic Bancorp (0.22).
Global Financial Calendar

Friday 1/20/12
United States
1000 ET	Dec existing home sales expected +5.2% to 4.65 million, Nov +4.0% to 4.42 million.
Japan
0000 ET	Revised Nov Japan coincident index CI, previous 90.3. Revised Nov leading index CI, previous 92.9.
Germany
0200 ET	Dec German producer prices expected +0.1% m/m and +4.6% y/y, Nov +0.1% m/m and +5.2% y/y.
United Kingdom
0430 ET	Dec U.K. retail sales ex-auto fuel expected +0.7% m/m and +1.7% y/y, Nov -0.7% m/m and +0.5% y/y.
0430 ET	Dec U.K. retail sales with auto fuel expected +0.6% m/m and +2.4% y/y, Nov -0.4% m/m and +0.7% y/y.
Canada
0700 ET	Dec Canada CPI expected -0.1% m/m and +2.8% y/y, Nov +0.1% m/m and +2.9% y/y.
0700 ET	Dec Bank of Canada core CPI expected -0.3% m/m and +2.2% y/y, Nov +0.1% m/m and +2.1% y/y.
0830 ET	Nov Canada wholesale sales, Oct +0.9% m/m.

Barchart.com provides Financial Quotes, Charts and Technical Analysis for Stock and Commodity Traders.

News Corp - NWSA - moving up

2012-01-19T10:06:00.000-05:00

On Barchart's NASDAQ 100 new highs list today: News Corp (NWSA)

Barchart technical indicators:

96% Barchart technical buy signal
Trend Spotter buy signal
Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
16 new highs and up 15.49% in the last month
Relative strength Index 70.15%
Barchart computes a technical support level at 19.23
Recently traded at 19.40 with a 50 day moving average of 17.49

Gilead Sciences - GILD- Moving up

2012-01-19T09:56:00.000-05:00

On Barchart's NASDAQ 100 new high list this morning: Gilead Sciences (GILD)

Barchart technical indicators:

96% Barchart technical buy signal
Trend Spotter buy signal
Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
16 new highs and up 27.85% in the last month
Relative Strength Index 84.60%
Barchart computes a technical support level at 45.60
Recently traded at 47.04 with a 50 day moving average of 40.98

Whole Food -WFM - moving up

2012-01-19T09:44:00.000-05:00

On Barchart's NASDAQ 100 new high list this morning: Whole Foods (WFM)

Barchart technical indicators:

100% Barchart technical buy signal
Trend Spotter buy signal
Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
16 new highs and up 17.70% in the last month
Relative Strength Index 78.15%
Barchart computes a technical support level at 75.79
Recently traded at 77.87 with a 50 day moving average of 68.68

Barchart Morning Call 1/19

2012-01-19T09:31:00.000-05:00

Barchart Morning Call

Barchart.com - 1 hr 27 mins ago

Overnight Developments

Global stocks this morning are higher with the Euro Stoxx 50 up +0.17% and Mar S&Ps up +1.50 points at a 5-1/2 month high. The dollar index fell to a 2-week low and most commodities rose with gold at a 1-month high and copper at a 3-3/4 month high after French borrowing costs dropped at an auction and Spain sold more bonds than its planned target. Spain sold 6.61 billion euros of bonds, compared with a maximum target for the sale of 4.5 billion euros, while French 2-year note yields fell to 1.05% from 1.58% at a similar auction on Oct, which boosts optimism the European sovereign debt crisis is being contained. Another positive for stocks is the report from people with knowledge of the matter that China is letting its larger banks boost lending and is weighing a plan to relax capital requirements.
Asian stocks today closed mostly higher with Japan up +1.04%, China +1.91%, Australia -0.07%, South Korea +1.39%, India +1.17%. Asian stocks rose amid signs China will relax credit controls and boost lending. According to 2 people at state banks who have knowledge of the matter, the PBOC will let China's largest banks increase new loans by a maximum of 5% from a year earlier, while the banking regulator will delay implementing the most stringent capital adequacy ratios and may lower risk weightings for loans to small businessmen and companies. Technology stocks in Asia rose after ASML Holding NV, Europe's biggest semiconductor-equipment maker, forecast higher Q1 orders, and after sales at U.S. chipmaker Linear Technology beat analysts' projections.

Overnight U.S. Stock News

March S&Ps this morning are trading up +1.50 points at a fresh 5-1/2 month high. The US stock market on Wednesday moved higher throughout the day and settled near its high after the IMF's proposal to increase its lending capacity by $500 billion reduced European debt concerns while homebuilders surged after the Jan NAHB housing index climbed to a 4-1/2 year high: Dow Jones +0.78%, S&P 500 +1.11%, Nasdaq Composite +1.53%. The S&P 500, the Dow and the Nasdaq all posted 5-1/2 month highs. Bullish factors included (1) reduced European debt concerns after the IMF proposed a $500 billion expansion of its lending resources to insulate the global economy against any worsening of Europe's debt crisis and after a Greek finance official said his government could forge an agreement on a voluntary debt swap with creditors by the end of this week, (2) a rally in homebuilders after the Jan HAHB housing market index rose more than expected to its best level in 4-1/2 years (+4 to 25 versus expectations of +1 to 22), and (3) strength in technology stocks after semiconductor companies advanced when Linear Technology and Taiwan Semiconductor reported better-than-expected sales forecasts.
Bearish factors on Wednesday included (1) concerns over a global economic slowdown after the World Bank cut its 2012 global growth forecast to +2.5% from a June estimate of +3.6% and Germany's Economy Ministry cut its 2012 German GDP forecast to +0.7% from an Oct forecast of +1.0% and (2) Dec U.S. industrial production which rose +0.4%, weaker than expectations of +0.5%, while Nov industrial production was revised lower to -0.3% from the originally reported -0.2%.
Ebay (EBAY) climbed 3.4% in European trading after the company reported Q4 revenue rose 35% to $3.38 billion, better than analysts' estimates of $3.32 billion.

Today's Market Focus

March 10-year T-notes this morning are up +1.5 ticks. T-note prices on Wednesday moved lower after Dec core producer prices unexpectedly increased and after safe-haven demand for Treasuries fell as the stock market rallied: TYH2 -10.5, FVH2 -3.7, EDM2 -2.5. Bearish factors included (1) the larger-than-expected increase in Dec core PPI prices (+0.3% m/m and a 2-1/2 year high of +3.0% y/y versus expectations of +0.1% m/m and +2.8% y/y), (2) the larger-than-expected increase in the Jan NAHB housing market index which climbed to its best level in 4-1/2 years (+4 to 25 versus expectations of +1 to 22), and (3) reduced safe-haven demand for Treasuries after the IMF's proposal to boost its lending capacity by $500 billion reduced European debt concerns and lifted stocks. Bullish factors included (1) concern over a global economic slowdown after the World Bank cut its 2012 global growth forecast to +2.5% from a June estimate of +3.6% and Germany's Economy Ministry cut its 2012 German GDP forecast to +0.7% from an Oct forecast of +1.0%, (2) solid foreign demand for U.S. government debt after the Nov long-term TIC flows showed foreign holdings of Treasuries rose +1.7% to a record $4.75 trillion, and (3) Dec U.S. industrial production which rose +0.4%, weaker than expectations of +0.5%, while Nov was revised lower to -0.3% from the originally reported -0.2%.
The dollar index this morning is lower and trading at a 2-week low with the dollar/yen +0.03 yen and the euro/dollar +0.30 cents. The dollar index on Wednesday fell to a 1-1/2 week low and finished lower on reduced safe-haven demand after the IMF proposed boosting its lending capacity by $500 billion: Dollar Index -0.573, USDJPY -0.005, EURUSD +0.01281. Bearish factors included (1) the proposal by the IMF to expand its lending resources by $500 billion to insulate the global economy against any worsening of Europe's debt crisis, which is euro supportive, (2) reduced demand for dollars after the 3-month cross-currency basis swap, the rate banks pay to convert euro interest payments into dollars, fell to 78 bp below the euro interbank offered rate, a 5-1/4 month low, and (3) fuel for short-covering in the euro after data from the CFTC showed that traders had increased their short euro positions to a record 155,195 contracts in the week ended Jan 10. Bullish factors included (1) increased safe-haven demand on global economic concerns after the World Bank cut its 2012 global growth forecast to +2.5% from a June estimate of +3.6% and Germany's Economy Ministry cut its 2012 German GDP forecast to +0.7% from an Oct forecast of +1.0%, (2) the Nov long-term TIC flows which increased by +$59.8 billion, bigger than expectations of +$40.0 billion and a sign of strong foreign demand for dollar assets, and (3) signs of stronger U.S. economic confidence after the Jan NAHB housing market index rose more than expected to its highest in 4-1/2 years.
Feb crude oil prices this morning are up +$1.13 a barrel and Feb gasoline is -0.37 of a cent per gallon. Crude oil and gasoline prices Wednesday settled mixed as crude oil fell after the Obama administration said it will reject the Keystone XL pipeline and gasoline surged to a 3-month high after Hovensa LLC said it will close a refinery in the Virgin Islands that supplies gasoline to the U.S. East Coast: CLG12 -$0.12, RBG12 +5.41. Bullish factors included (1) the weaker dollar, and (2) strength in gasoline on concern gasoline supplies to the U.S. East Coast may be reduced after Hovensa LLC said it will shut its 350,000 barrel-a-day St. Croix refinery in the U.S. Virgin Islands because of mounting losses and weak demand. Bearish factors included (1) the action by the Obama administration to reject the implementation of TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to the U.S Gulf coast, which may increase crude inventories in Cushing, OK, the hub for WTI supplies and delivery point for NYMEX futures contracts, (2) the action by the IEA to cut its 2012 global crude oil demand forecast to an increase of 1.1 million barrels a day, -200,000 bbl less than a previous estimate saying "the risks are to the downside for the global economy and oil demand growth," and (3) the outlook for weekly DOE crude inventories to climb for a fourth week when the DOE reports its weekly inventory data on Thursday. Expectations for Thursday's weekly DOE inventories (delayed 1 day due to the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday) are for crude supplies to grow by +3.0 million bbl, gasoline stockpiles to climb by +2.35 million bbl, distillate inventories to rise +1.38 million bbl and the refinery utilization rate to drop -0.5 to 85.1%.

Today's U.S. Earnings Reports Earnings reports (confirmed releases, sorted by mkt cap): MSFT-Microsoft (BEST earnings consensus $0.76), IBM-International Business Machines (4.62), GOOG-Google (10.50), INTC-Intel (0.62), BAC-Bank of America (0.14), AXP-American Express (0.97), UNH-UnitedHealth Group (1.04), UNP-Union Pacific (1.82), FCX-Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (0.61), BLK-BlackRock (2.99), MS-Morgan Stanley (-0.57), JCI-Johnson Controls (0.62), COF-Capital One Financial (1.54), BBT-BB&T (0.53), ISRG-Intitive Surgical (3.36).
Global Financial Calendar

Thursday 1/19/12
United States
0830 ET	Weekly initial unemployment claims expected -15,000 to 384,000, previous +24,000 to 399,000. Weekly continuing claims expected -38,000 to 3.590 million, previous +19,000 to 3.628 million.
0830 ET	Dec CPI expected +0.1% m/m and +3.0% y/y, Nov unchanged m/m and +3.4% y/y. Dec CPI ex food & energy expected +0.1% m/m and +2.2% y/y, Nov +0.2% m/m and +2.2% y/y.
0830 ET	Dec housing starts expected -0.7% to 680,000, Nov +9.3% to 685,000. Dec building permits expected no change at 680,000, Nov +5.6% at 680,000.
1000 ET	Jan Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index expected +3.5 to 10.3, Dec +3.7 to 6.8.
1100 ET	Treasury announces amounts of 2-year T-notes (previous $35 billion), 5-year T-notes (previous $35 billion) and 7-year T-notes (previous $29 billion) to be auctioned Jan 24-26.
1300 ET	Treasury auctions $15 billion 10-year TIPS.
1630 ET	Weekly money supply report and Fed balance sheet.
Japan
0030 ET	Dec Japan nationwide department store sales, Nov -1.9% y/y.
2330 ET	Nov Japan all industry activity index expected -0.9% m/m, Oct +0.8% m/m.
Euro-Zone
0400 ET	ECB publishes its monthly report for Jan.
0700 ET	ECB President Mario Draghi speaks at a press conference in Abu Dhabi.
1200 ET	ECB Council member and Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann speaks at an event in Berlin.
Canada
0830 ET	Nov Canada manufacturing sales expected +0.8% m/m, Oct -0.8% m/m.

Barchart.com provides Financial Quotes, Charts and Technical Analysis for Stock and Commodity Traders.

Apple (AAPL) Barchart Chart of the Day

2012-01-19T09:27:00.000-05:00

Barchart.coms Chart of the Day - Apple (AAPL)

Barchart Research Team - Barchart.com - Wed Jan 18, 3:58PM CST

Related Stocks

AAPL - Apple Inc.

Sym	Last	Chg	Pct
AAPL	429.11	+4.41	+1.04%

The "Chart of the Day" is Apple (AAPL), which showed up on Wednesday's Barchart "All Time High" and the "Gap Up" list. Apple on Wednesday posted a new all-time high of $429.47 and closed up 1.04%. TrendSpotter has been Long since Dec 23 at $403.33. In recent news on the stock, WSJ on Wednesday reported that Apple's computer use is growing in corporate offices. Piper Jaffray on Tuesday lowered its Q4 MAC sales estimates but that was offset by strong iPhone sales, leading Piper Jaffray to reiterate its Overweight rating on Apple. Apple, with a market cap of $390 billion, designs, manufactures and markets personal computers and related personal computing and communicating solutions for sale primarily to education, creative, consumer, and business customers.

How we found the Chart of the Day:
We found the "Chart of the Day" by scanning the Barchart "All Time High" list. In order to get to that list, we first clicked on the Stocks menu item on the Barchart home page, then on the "All Time Highs" menu item on the left menu bar. We then sorted the list by percentage gainers by clicking on the "Percent" column title. A stock that has posted a new All-Time high is typically showing strong upside momentum.
The status of Barchart's Opinion trading systems are listed below. Please note that the Barchart Opinion indicators are updated live during the session every 10 minutes and can therefore change during the day as the market fluctuates. The indicator numbers shown below therefore may not match what you see live on the Barchart.com web site when you read this report.

TrendSpotter: Buy
Short-Term Indicators: 80% Buy
Medium-Term Indicators: 100% Buy
Long-Term Indicators: 100% Buy
Overall Average 96% Buy

Chart of the Day Archive
View Past Chart of the Day Reports

Benchmark Electronics - BHE - moving up

2012-01-18T12:53:00.000-05:00

Today on Barchart's S&P 600 small cap new high list: Benchmark Electronics (BHE)

Barchart technical indicators:

96% Barchart technical buy signal
Trend Spotter buy signal
Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving average
15 new highs and up 24.75% in the last month
Relative Strength Index 70.79%
Barchart computes a technical support level at 15.48
Recently traded at 16.15 with a day moving average of 13.65

Quanex Building Products - NX - Moving Up

2012-01-18T12:34:00.000-05:00

On Barchart's S&P 600 small cap new high list today: Quanex Building Products (NX)

Barchart technical indicators:

96% Barchart technical buy signal
Trend Spotter buy signal
above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
15 new highs and up 34.65% in the last month
Relative strength Index 67.46%
Barchart computes a technical support level at 16.56
Recently traded at 17.32 with a 50 day moving average of 14.90

Meadowbrook Insurance - MIG - moving up

2012-01-18T12:15:00.000-05:00

Today on Barchart's S&P 600 small cap new high list: Meadowbrook Insurance (MIG)

Barchart technical indicators:

96% Barchart technical buy signal
Trend Spotter buy signal
Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
17 new highs and up 10.89% in the last month
Relative Strength Index 68.23%
Barchart computes a technical support level at 11.06
Recently traded at 10.39 with a 50 day moving average of 10.45

Barchart Morning Call 1/18

2012-01-18T11:51:00.000-05:00

Barchart Morning Call

Barchart.com - Wed Jan 18, 7:00AM CST

Overnight Developments

Global stocks this morning are mixed with the Euro Stoxx 50 down -0.06% and Mar S&Ps up +2.40 points. The dollar and Treasuries are lower and most commodities rose after the IMF proposed a $500 billion expansion of its lending resources to insulate the global economy against any worsening of Europe's debt crisis. The IMF is pushing China, Brazil, Russia, India, Japan and oil exporting nations to be the top contributors to the bailout fund that may be initiated at the Feb 25-26 meeting of G-20 finance ministers and central bankers in Mexico City. The IMF currently has $385 billion available for lending and wants to boost that amount to $885 billion. A positive for European bank stocks was the decline in the 3-month cross-currency basis swap, the rate banks pay to convert euro interest payments into dollars, to 78 bp below the euro interbank offered rate, a 5-1/4 month low. Limiting gains in stocks and the euro was the action by Germany's Economy Ministry to cut its 2012 German GDP forecast to +0.7%, down from an Oct forecast of +1.0% as the debt crisis dampens the outlook for sustaining exports. The World Bank also cut its growth estimates as they reduced their 2012 global growth forecast to +2.5% from a June estimate of +3.6%, saying a recession in the Euro-Zone threatens to exacerbate a slowdown in emerging markets.
Asian stocks today closed mixed with Japan up +0.99%, China -1.56%, Australia +0.05%, South Korea unchnaged, India -0.09%. Asian stocks found support after German investor confidence rose to a 6-month high, which suggests concern over the European debt crisis is receding. Energy and raw-material producers gained as most commodities rallied, while Japanese makers of factory equipment rose after Japan's Machine Tool Builders' Association said that Japan Dec orders for machine tools climbed +17.4% y/y, a number Credit Suisse AG said was "unexpectedly firm." Chinese stocks closed lower as property developers slid on concern a property-market slowdown will crimp demand for building materials and consumer goods. China's 7-day repurchase rate, a gauge of funding availability in the financial system, jumped 58 bp to 7.72%, the highest in 6-3/4 months as banks hoard cash in the run up to the Lunar New Year holiday next week.

Overnight U.S. Stock News

March S&Ps this morning are trading up +2.40 points. The US stock market on Monday settled higher on speculation a slowdown in Chinese growth will prompt its government to ease monetary policy, while European debt concerns eased after German business sentiment surged and Spanish and Greek borrowing costs declined: Dow Jones +0.48%, S&P 500 +0.36%, Nasdaq Composite +0.64%. The S&P 500 and the Dow posted 5-1/2 month highs and the Nasdaq climbed to a 2-1/2 month high. Bullish factors included (1) speculation that China will avoid a hard landing after Q4 China GDP expanded at a +8.9% y/y pace, although stronger than expectations of +8.7% y/y, was the slowest pace of growth in 2-1/2 years and also bolstered speculation the Chinese government will ease monetary policy, (2) reduced European debt concerns after the Jan German ZEW survey of economic sentiment surged to its best level in 6-months (+32.8 to -21.6) and as borrowing costs for Spain and Greece declined when their yields fell at auctions of government debt, and (3) the stronger-than-expected Jan Empire manufacturing index which expanded at its fastest pace in 9-months (+5.3 to 13.5 versus expectations of +1.0 to 10.5).
Bearish factors on Monday included (1) the action by Standard & Poor's to downgrade the European Financial Stability Facility to AA+ from AAA, which may reduce the lending capacity of the bailout fund, (2) concern the European sovereign debt crisis may worsen after the Managing Director of Fitch Ratings said Greece is insolvent and will default on its debts as it is unlikely to be able to honor a Mar 20 bond payment of 14.5 billion euros, and (3) weakness in cruise-line companies after Barclays Capital said the action by Carnival's Costa Concordia to run aground off the coast of Italy will hurt the cruise industry as the incident happened at the start of the industry's peak booking season.
Yahoo! (YHOO) climbed 4.1% in pre-market trading after co-founder Jerry Yang stepped down, which fueled speculation that the company will sell its Asian assets valued at more than $10 billion.

Today's Market Focus

March 10-year T-notes this morning are up +3 ticks. T-note prices on Tuesday settled slightly higher as European debt concerns and Fed buying of long-term Treasuries offset reduced safe-haven demand after the S&P 500 rose to a 5-1/2 month high: TYH2 +1.5, FVH2 +0.7, EDM2 +1.0. Bullish factors included (1) the action by the Fed to purchase $2.75 billion of Treasuries maturing between 2036 and 2041 as part of its Operation Twist program to replace $400 billion of shorter-maturity Treasuries in its holdings with longer-term debt to keep long-term rates low and (2) increased safe-haven demand for Treasuries on concern the European sovereign debt crisis may worsen after the Managing Director of Fitch Ratings said Greece is insolvent and will default on its debts as it is unlikely to be able to honor a Mar 20 bond payment of 14.5 billion euros. Bearish factors included (1) decreased safe-haven demand for Treasuries after stocks rallied when Q4 China GDP expanded at a +8.9% y/y pace, stronger than expectations of +8.7% y/y which reduced concerns of a hard-landing for China, (2) reduced European debt concerns after the Jan German ZEW survey of economic sentiment surged to its best level in 6-months and as borrowing costs for Spain and Greece declined when their yields fell at auctions of government debt, and (3) the stronger-than-expected Jan Empire manufacturing index which expanded at its fastest pace in 9-months (+5.3 to 13.5 versus expectations of +1.0 to 10.5).
The dollar index this morning is lower with the dollar/yen unchanged and the euro/dollar +0.49 cents. The dollar index on Tuesday settled lower after the euro gained when Jan German business sentiment surged and as Spanish and Greek borrowing costs declined: Dollar Index +0.745, USDJPY +0.204, EURUSD -0.01352. Bearish factors included (1) the surge in the Jan German ZEW survey of economic sentiment to its best level in 6 months, (2) the decline in the borrowing costs of Spain and Greece when yields fell at auctions of government debt, which reduces concern that the indebted European countries will be able to finance their debts, and (3) reduced safe-haven demand for the dollar after the S&P 500 rallied to a 5-1/2 month high. Bullish factors included (1) increased safe-haven demand for the dollar when the Managing Director of Fitch Ratings said Greece is insolvent and will default on its debts as it is unlikely to be able to honor a Mar 20 bond payment of 14.5 billion euros, (2) the action by Standard & Poor's to downgrade the European Financial Stability Facility to AA+ from AAA, which may reduce the lending capacity of the bailout fund, and (3) concern about the European banking system as lenders continue to refrain from lending due to counter-party risk after Euro-Zone banks parked 501.9 billion euros in overnight funds at the ECB on Monday, the most since the euro was introduced in 1999.
Feb crude oil prices this morning are up +45 cents a barrel and Feb gasoline is +0.25 of a cent per gallon. Crude oil and gasoline prices Tuesday settled sharply higher as the dollar weakened, Jan German investor confidence surged and as France pushed for faster enforcement of the EU's proposed ban on oil imports from Iran: CLG12 +$2.01, RBG12 +3.71. Bullish factors included (1) the weaker dollar, (2) the greater-than-expected increase in the Jan German ZEW survey of economic sentiment to its best level in 6 months, which reduces concern the European debt crisis will hinder economic growth and energy demand, (3) comments from 2 unnamed French officials who said that France wants the embargo on Iranian crude to be delayed by no more than 3 months rather than the 6-month delay other EU members are seeking, (4) comments from Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi who said that Saudi Arabia aims to stabilize the average crude price worldwide at $100 a barrel in 2012, and (5) the rally in the S&P 500 to a 5-1/2 month high, which bolsters confidence in the economic outlook and fuel demand. Bearish factors included (1) the decline in Q4 China GDP to +8.9% y/y, the weakest pace of growth in 2-1/2 years and signals reduced fuel demand in China, the world's second-largest crude consumer, (2) concern the European debt crisis may worsen after the Managing Director of Fitch Ratings said that Greece is insolvent and will default on its debts as it is unlikely to be able to honor a Mar 20 bond payment of 14.5 billion euros, and (3) carry-over weakness from a fall in natural gas prices to a 10-year nearest-futures low as a milder-than-normal U.S. winter reduces heating demand.

Today's U.S. Earnings Reports Earnings reports (confirmed releases, sorted by mkt cap): USB-US Bancorp (BEST earnings consensus $0.63), GS-Goldman Sachs Group (1.23), EBAY-Ebay (0.57), PNC-PNC Financial Services (1.49), KMP-Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (0.61), KMI-Kinder Morgan Inc. (0.29), BK-Bank of New York Mellon (0.53), STT-State Street Corp. (0.94), SCHW-Charles Schwab (0.13), FAST-Fastenal (0.29), NTRS-Northern Trust (0.68), XLNX-Xilinx (0.38), FFIV-F5 Networks (1.01), SLM-SLM Corp. (0.49), CLC-CLARCOR (0.67).
Global Financial Calendar

Wednesday 1/18/12
United States
0700 ET	Weekly MBA mortgage applications, previous +4.5% with purchase mortgage sub-index +8.1% and refinancing sub-index +3.3%.
0745 ET	ICSC (Int?l Council of Shopping Centers) weekly retailer sales.
0830 ET	Dec PPI expected +0.1% m/m and +5.1% y/y, Nov +0.3% m/m and +5.7% y/y. Dec PPI ex food & energy expected +0.1% m/m and +2.8% y/y, Nov +0.1% m/m and +2.9% y/y.
0855 ET	Redbook weekly retailer sales.
0900 ET	Nov net long-term TIC flows expected +$40.0 billion, Oct +$4.8 billion.
0915 ET	Dec industrial production expected +0.5%, Nov -0.2%. Dec capacity utilization expected +0.3 to 78.1%, Nov 0.2 to 77.8%.
0930 ET	Fed Governor Daniel Tarullo testifies before the Financial Services Committee on the proposed Volcker Rule and its impact on the economy.
1000 ET	Jan NAHB housing market index expected +1 to 22, Dec +2 to 21.
1130 ET	Weekly 4-week T-bill auction.
United Kingdom
0430 ET	Dec U.K. jobless claims change expected +7,000, Nov +3,000. Dec claimant count rate expected 5.0%, Nov 5.0%.
0430 ET	Nov U.K. avg weekly earnings expected +2.0% 3-mo/year-over-year, Oct +2.0% 3-mo/year-over-year.
0430 ET	Nov U.K. weekly earnings ex-bonus expected +1.9% 3-mo/year-over-year, Oct +1.8% 3-mo/year-over-year.
0430 ET	Nov U.K. ILO unemployment rate expected 8.3% 3-months, Oct 8.3% 3-months.
1901 ET	Dec U.K. nationwide consumer confidence expected -2 to 38, Nov +4 to 40.
Euro-Zone
0500 ET	Nov Euro-Zone construction output, Oct -1.4% m/m and -2.8% y/y.

Barchart.com provides Financial Quotes, Charts and Technical Analysis for Stock and Commodity Traders.

Monster Beverage - MNST - Barchart Chart of the Day

2012-01-18T11:46:00.000-05:00

Barchart.com's Chart of the Day - Monster Beverage Corp (MNST)

Barchart Research Team - Barchart.com - Tue Jan 17, 8:09PM CST

Related Stocks

MNST - Monster Beverage Corp

Sym	Last	Chg	Pct
MNST	99.96	-0.60	-0.60%

The "Chart of the Day" is Monster Beverage Corp (MNST), which showed up on Tuesday's Barchart "All Time High" and the "Gap Up" list. Monster on Tuesday gapped higher to a all-time high of $101.55 and closed up +3.68%. Tuesday's rally was sparked by Goldman Sachs' upgrade for Monster to Conviction Buy from Buy and the hike in the price target to $124 from $95. Monster on Jan 11 declared a two-for-one stock split as of Feb 15. Monster Beverage Corp, with a market cap of $8.3 billion, wells energy drinks, fruit juices, fruit juice smoothies, juice cocktails, iced teas, lemonades, and still water.

How we found the Chart of the Day:
We found the "Chart of the Day" by scanning the Barchart "All Time High" list. In order to get to that list, we first clicked on the Stocks menu item on the Barchart home page, then on the "All Time Highs" menu item on the left menu bar. We then sorted the list by percentage gainers by clicking on the "Percent" column title. A stock that has posted a new All-Time high is typically showing strong upside momentum.
The status of Barchart's Opinion trading systems are listed below. Please note that the Barchart Opinion indicators are updated live during the session every 10 minutes and can therefore change during the day as the market fluctuates. The indicator numbers shown below therefore may not match what you see live on the Barchart.com web site when you read this report.

TrendSpotter: Buy
Short-Term Indicators: 100% Buy
Medium-Term Indicators: 100% Buy
Long-Term Indicators: 100% Buy
Overall Average 100% Buy

Chart of the Day Archive
View Past Chart of the Day Reports

Diana Containerships - DCIX - added

2012-01-18T11:33:00.000-05:00

Can't sit on the sidelines anymore. This morning I added Diana Containerships (DCIX) to the Barchart Van Meerten Speculative portfolio for positive price momentum

Barchart technical indicators:

100% Barchart technical buy signal
Trend Spotter buy signal
Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving average
18 new highs and up 49.79% in the last month
Relative Strength Index 90.80%
Barchart computes a technical support level at 6.77
Recently traded at 7.13 with a 50 day moving average of 5.24

Dana Hodlings - DAN - New Highs

2012-01-17T15:08:00.000-05:00

On Barchart's New High list today: Dana Holdings (DAN)

Barchart technical indicators:

96% Barchart technical buy signal
Trend Spotter buy signal
Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
16 new highs and up 30.51% in the last month
Relative Strength Index 70.11
Barchart computes a technical support level at 14.07
Recently traded at 14.46 with a 50 day moving average of 12.65

Johnson Controls - JCI - New Highs

2012-01-17T13:19:00.000-05:00

On Barchart's New High list today: Johnson Controls (JCI)

Barchart technical indicators:

96% Barchart technical buy signal
Trend Spotter buy signal
Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
16 new highs and up 21.24% in the last month
Relative Strength Index 73.28%
Barchart computes a technical support level at 34.47
Recently traded at 35.05 with a 50 day moving average of 31.2

LPL Investments - LPLA - moving up

2012-01-17T13:08:00.000-05:00

On the Barchart New High list today - LPL Investments (LPLA)

Barchart technical indicators:

96% Barchart technical buy signal
Trend Spotter buy signal
Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
16 new highs and up 17.38% in the last month
Relative Strength Index 78.73%
Barchart computes a technical support level at 32.90
Recently Traded at 33.25 with a 50 day moving average of 29.54

Diana Containerships - DCIX - up

2012-01-17T12:56:00.000-05:00

On the Barchart New High List again today - Diana Containerships (DCIX)

Barchart technical indicators:

96% Barchart technical buy signal
Trend Spotter buy signal
Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving average
17 new highs and up 43.67% in the last month
Barchart computes a technical support level at 6.46
Relative Strength Index 88.98%
Recently traded at 6.80 with a 50 day moving average of 5.20

Valspar - VAL - new highs

2012-01-17T12:46:00.000-05:00

On the Barchart New High list again today Valspar (VAL)

Barchart technical indicators:

96% Barchart technical buy signal
Trend Spotter buy signal
Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
17 new highs and up 15.70% in the last month
Relative Strength Index 79.24%
Barchart computes a technical support level at 41.65
Recently traded at 42.22 with a 50 day moving average of 37.10

Barchart Morning Call 1/17

2012-01-17T12:33:00.000-05:00

Barchart Morning Call

Barchart.com - Tue Jan 17, 7:00AM CST

Overnight Developments

Global stocks this morning are higher with the Euro Stoxx 50 up +0.61% and Mar S&Ps up +8.00 points at a 5-1/2 month high. The dollar and Treasuries fell and commodities rallied with gold at a 1-month high and copper at a 2-1/2 month high after China's Q4 GDP rose expanded more than forecast and Jan German economic sentiment improved more than expected. The Jan German ZEW survey of economic sentiment surged +32.8 to -21.6, better than expectations of +4.6 to -49.2 and its best level in 6-months. The euro rose against the dollar after Spanish borrowing costs declined when Spain auctioned 12-month debt at an average yield of 2.049%, compared with 4.05% at a similar auction last month and sold 18-month debt at 2.399%, down from 4.226% last month. Limiting gains in the euro and in European stocks were comments from the Managing Director of Fitch Ratings who said Greek 2-year notes are worth about 23% of face value and that Greece is insolvent and will default on its debts as it is unlikely to be able to honor a Mar 20 bond payment of 14.5 billion euros.
Asian stocks today closed higher with Japan up +1.05%, China +4.90%, Australia +1.65%, South Korea +1.94%, India +1.71%. Asian stocks rose on speculation the slowest Chinese growth in 10 quarters will prompt monetary easing by the government. Q4 China GDP grew at a +8.9% y/y pace, the weakest in 2-1/2 years, although stronger than expectations of +8.7% y/y. Dec China industrial production climbed +12.8% y/y, stronger than expectations of +12.3% y/y, while Dec China retail sales rose +18.1% y/y, stronger than expectations of +17.2% y/y, which reduces concern of a hard landing in China. In a sign of policy easing, the PBOC said it injected 169 billion yuan ($26.8 billion) into the financial market through 14-day reverse-repurchase operations as sticky inflation pressures prompts the central bank to inject more cash into the market via reverse-repo operations instead of a cut in banks reserve-ratio requirements ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday that starts Jan 23.

Overnight U.S. Stock News

March S&Ps this morning are trading up +8.00 points. The US stock market sold-off last Friday amid European credit downgrade concerns along with weakness in bank stocks after JPMorgan's Q4 profit slumped: Dow Jones -0.39%, S&P 500 -0.49%, Nasdaq Composite -0.51%. The Dow posted a 1-week low. Bearish factors included (1) concern the European sovereign debt crisis will worsen after Dow Jones Newswires reported that several European nations, including France, face "imminent" credit downgrades from Standard & Poor's, which happened after the markets closed, (2) weakness in bank stocks when JPMorgan Chase reported its Q4 investment-banking revenue declined -30% from a year earlier as many of its clients stayed on the sidelines because of the ongoing European debt crisis, and (3) the Nov U.S. trade deficit which widened to -$47.8 billion, bigger than expectations of -$45.0 billion and is negative for Q4 US GDP.
Bullish factors last Friday included (1) the larger-than-expected increase in the Jan U.S. University of Michigan consumer confidence which rose to its best level in 8 months (+4.1 to 74.0 versus expectations of +1.6 to 71.5), (2) comments from Richmond Fed President Lacker who said the inflation outlook is "reasonably good" in the U.S. and the economy will expand at a "modest" rate of +2.0 to +2.5% this year, and (3) the drop in the 10-year T-note yield to a 3-1/2 week low of 1.833%.
Alcoa (AA) gained 2.9% in pre-market trading as metal prices rallied with copper climbing to a 2-1/2 month high.

Today's Market Focus

March 10-year T-notes this morning are down -7 ticks. T-note prices last Friday rallied to a fresh contract high and settled higher on a surge in safe-haven demand after stocks tumbled on speculation Standard & Poor's may cut the credit ratings of France and several other European nations which happened after the markets closed: TYH2 +18.5, FVH2 +8.0, EDM2 unchanged. The 10-year T-note yield fell to a 3-1/2 week low of 1.833%. Bullish factors included (1) increased safe-haven demand for Treasuries on concern the European sovereign debt crisis may worsen after Dow Jones Newswires reported that several European nations, including France, face "imminent" credit downgrades from Standard & Poor's, (2) additional safe-haven demand for Treasuries after negotiations between Greece's creditor banks and the Greek government broke off over how much money investors of Greek debt will lose by swapping their bonds, which raises default risks for Greece, and (3) the action by the Fed to purchase $4.646 billion of T-notes as part of its Operation Twist program to replace $400 billion of shorter-maturity Treasuries in its holdings with longer-term debt to keep long-term rates low. A bearish factor was the larger-than-expected increase in the Jan U.S. University of Michigan consumer confidence which rose to its best level in 8 months (+4.1 to 74.0 versus expectations of +1.6 to 71.5).
The dollar index this morning is lower with the dollar/yen +0.02 yen and the euro/dollar +1.28 cents. The dollar index last Friday accelerated to a 1-1/3 year high as the euro plunged on speculation of "imminent" credit downgrades of several European countries: Dollar Index +0.745, USDJPY +0.204, EURUSD -0.01352. Bullish factors included (1) increased safe-haven demand for the dollar when the euro sank to a 1-1/3 year low against the dollar after Dow Jones Newswires reported that several European nations, including France, face "imminent" credit downgrades from Standard & Poor's, (2) the action by the IIF to break off talks with Greece amid a coupon dispute as bondholders say the EU agreement to exchange Greek bonds for new securities with a 5% coupon would leave them with a 65% loss in the net present value of their holdings of Greek government debt, more than the 50% haircut banks had agreed upon back in Oct, (3) comments from ECB Council member Liikanen who said that "there's a risk" that economic conditions in the Euro-Zone will continue to worsen, and (4) the larger-than-expected increase in the Jan U.S. University of Michigan consumer confidence to an 8-month high, which is dollar positive. Bearish factors included (1) the Nov U.S. trade deficit which widened to -$47.8 billion, more than expectations of -$45.0 billion and the largest deficit in 5 months and (2) reduced demand for dollars after the 3-month cross-currency basis swap, the rate banks pay to convert interest payments into dollars, narrowed to 80 bp below the euro interbank offered rate, the lowest in 4-1/2 months.
Feb crude oil prices this morning are up +$2.12 a barrel and Feb gasoline is +6.56 cents per gallon. Crude oil and gasoline prices last Friday settled mixed as EU plans to delay a Iranian oil embargo, dollar strength and the threats of credit downgrades to European nations were offset by an increase in U.S. consumer confidence and an ongoing strike in Nigeria: CLG12 -$0.40, RBG12 +0.29. Feb crude posted a 3-week low. Bearish factors included (1) the surge in the dollar index to a 1-1/3 year high, which fueled liquidation of most commodities, (2) carry-over weakness from a late-day slide last Thursday after 2 EU officials said an embargo on Iranian crude imports may be postponed for 6 months to allow nations to find other supplies, and (3) the action by Standard & Poor''s to downgrade the credit ratings of 9 European nations, including France, which sent stocks reeling and may worsen the European debt crisis and fuel demand. Bullish factors included (1) the larger-than-expected increase in the Jan U.S. University of Michigan consumer confidence to an 8-month high, which bolsters confidence in the economic outlook and energy demand and (2) the statement from Nigerian labor unions that they will continue a strike that threatens oil exports from Africa's top producing country.

Today's U.S. Earnings Reports Earnings reports (confirmed releases, sorted by mkt cap): WFC-Wells Fargo (BEST earnings consensus $0.72), C-Citigroup (0.51), CHKP-Check Point Software Technology (0.81), MTB-M&T Bank Corp. (1.52), AMTD-TD Ameritrade Holding (0.26), FRX-Forest Labs (1.01), LLTC-Linear Technology (0.44), AWK-American Water Works (0.33), FRC-First Republic Bank of San Francisco (0.43), EDU-New Oriental Education & Technology (0.06), CREE-Cree Inc. (0.26), MMR-McMoRan Exploration (-0.11), FULT-Fulton Financial (0.20), ADTN-ADTRAN (0.47), OZRK-Bank of the Ozarks (0.49).
Global Financial Calendar

Tuesday 1/17/12
United States
0830 ET	Jan Empire manufacturing index expected +1.0 to 10.5, Dec +8.9 to 9.5.
1130 ET	Weekly 3-mo and 6-mo T-bill auctions.
Japan
0100 ET	Revised Dec Japan machine tool orders, previous +17.4% y/y.
2330 ET	Revised Nov Japan industrial production, previous -2.6% m/m and -4.0% y/y. Revised Nov capacity utilization, previous +4.1% m/m.
United Kingdom
0430 ET	Nov U.K. DCLG house prices, Oct -0.4% y/y.
0430 ET	Dec U.K. CPI expected +0.4% m/m and +4.2% y/y, Nov +0.2% m/m and +4.8% y/y.
0430 ET	Dec U.K. core CPI expected +3.0% y/y, Nov +3.2% y/y.
0430 ET	Dec U.K. RPI expected +0.3% m/m and +4.7% y/y, Nov +0.2% m/m and +5.2% y/y.
0430 ET	Dec U.K. RPI ex-mortgage interest payments expected +4.9% y/y, Nov +5.3% y/y.
Germany
0500 ET	Jan German ZEW survey economic sentiment expected +4.6 to -49.2, Dec +1.4 to -53.8. Jan ZEW survey current situation expected -2.8 to 24.0, Dec -7.4 to 26.8.
Euro-Zone
0500 ET	Dec Euro-Zone CPI expected +0.4% m/m and +2.8% y/y, Nov +0.1% m/m and +3.0% y/y. Dec core CPI expected +1.6% y/y, Nov +1.6% y/y.
Canada
0900 ET	BOC announces interest rate decision (expected no change to the 1.00% benchmark rate).

Barchart.com provides Financial Quotes, Charts and Technical Analysis for Stock and Commodity Traders.

Chipotle Mexican Grill - CMG - Barchart Chart of the Day

2012-01-17T12:28:00.000-05:00

Barchart.com's Chart of the Day - Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG)

Barchart Research Team - Barchart.com - Sun Jan 15, 12:18PM CST

Related Stocks

CMG - Chipotle Mexican Grill

Sym	Last	Chg	Pct
CMG	355.51	+0.89	+0.25%

The "Chart of the Day" is Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG), which showed up on Friday's Barchart "All Time High" and the "Gap Up" list. Chipotle on Friday posted a new all-time high of $355.00 and closed up 2.01%. TrendSpotter has been Long since Dec 5 at $336.21. In recent news on the stock, William Blair last Friday upgraded Chipotle to Outperform from Market Perform citing the company's strengthening sales momentum. Goldman on Jan 4 upgraded Chipotle to Conviction Buy from Buy and raised its target to $410 from $390 due to strong EPS growth and lower food costs. Chipotle Mexican Grill, with a market cap of $10.9 billion, is a restaurant chain that offers a menu of burritos, tacos, burrito bowls and salads made from fresh, high-quality raw ingredients, prepared using classic cooking methods and served in a distinctive atmosphere.

How we found the Chart of the Day:
We found the "Chart of the Day" by scanning the Barchart "All Time High" list. In order to get to that list, we first clicked on the Stocks menu item on the Barchart home page, then on the "All Time Highs" menu item on the left menu bar. We then sorted the list by percentage gainers by clicking on the "Percent" column title. A stock that has posted a new All-Time high is typically showing strong upside momentum.
The status of Barchart's Opinion trading systems are listed below. Please note that the Barchart Opinion indicators are updated live during the session every 10 minutes and can therefore change during the day as the market fluctuates. The indicator numbers shown below therefore may not match what you see live on the Barchart.com web site when you read this report.

TrendSpotter: Buy
Short-Term Indicators: 80% Buy
Medium-Term Indicators: 100% Buy
Long-Term Indicators: 100% Buy
Overall Average 96% Buy

Chart of the Day Archive
View Past Chart of the Day Reports

Gold Reserve - GRZ - deleted

2012-01-13T13:44:00.000-05:00

Today I deleted Gold Reserve (GRZ) from both the Barchart Van Meerten New High and Barchart Van Meerten Speculative portfolios for poor price performance.

Barchart technical indicators:

72% Barchart technical sell signal
Trend Spotter sell signal
Below its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
20.68% off its 1 year high
Relative strength Index 34.71%

Fastenal - FAST - Moving up

2012-01-13T10:57:00.000-05:00

On Barchart Fastenal (FAST) is an NASDAQ 100 stock with positive price momentum

Barchart technical indicators:

96% Barchart technical buy signal
Trend spotter buy signal
Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving average
15 new highs an d up 13.13% in the last month
Relative Strength Index 69.48%
Barchart computes a technical support level at 45.49
Recently traded at 45.74 with a 50 day moving average of 41.86

News Corp - NWSA - moving up

2012-01-13T10:47:00.000-05:00

On Barchart today News Corp (NWSA) is an NASDAQ 100 stock moving on up

Barchart technical indicators:

88% Barchart technical buy signal
Trend Spotter buy signal
Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving average
15 new highs and up 7.42% in the last month
Relative Strength Index 60.82%
Barchart computes a technical support level at 18.58
Recently traded at 18.55 with a 50 day moving average of 17.35

Amgen - AMGN - Moving up

2012-01-13T10:35:00.000-05:00

On Barchart today Amgen (AMGN) is a NASDAQ 100 stock moving up

Barchart technical indicators:

96% Barchart technical buy signal
Trend Spotter buy signal
Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving average
15 new highs and up 17.01% in the last month
Relative Strength Index 75.01%
Barchart computes a technical support level at 66.82

Barchart Morning Call 1/13

2012-01-13T10:23:00.000-05:00

Barchart Morning Call

Barchart.com - 2 hrs 19 mins ago

Overnight Developments

Global stocks this morning are mixed with the Euro Stoxx 50 up +0.27% and Mar S&Ps down -1.90 points. European stocks rose and the cost of insuring against default on European sovereign and bank debt fell after Italy sold 4.75 billion euros of bonds, its maximum target, as borrowing costs fell. Italy sold 3-year bonds to yield 4.83%, down from 5.62% at a previous sale last month, which eases concern that it will be able to finance its debt. U.S. stock futures are lower after JPMorgan Chase reported a decline in Q4 rofits. The euro weakened against the dollar and Treasuries rose after ECB Council member Liikanen said that "there's a risk" that economic conditions in the Euro-Zone will continue to worsen. European bank stocks rallied after Handelsblatt reported the European Banking Authority will postpone the annual stress tests for banks usually published in July to allow time for the lenders to get fresh capital to fill gaps documented by the last stress test. In another positive for European banks, the 3-month cross-currency basis swap, the rate banks pay to convert interest payments into dollars, narrowed to 80 bp below the euro interbank offered rate, the lowest in 4-1/2 months.
Asian stocks today closed mostly higher with Japan up +1.36%, China -1.68%, Australia +0.36%, South Korea +0.75%, India +0.73%. Japanese stocks closed higher, led by a rally in exporters, after lower Italian and Spanish borrowing costs signaled the worst of the European debt crisis may be past. Chinese stocks settled lower as speculation waned that the government would loosen monetary policies. Real estate developers weakened after the China Daily reported that Beijing Mayor Jinlong pledged to restrict property purchases to cool the real estate market. Data from the PBOC showed that Q4 China foreign-exchange reserves, the world's biggest, fell to $3.18 trillion on Dec 31 from $3.2 trillion on Sep 30, the first quarterly decline since the midst of the Asian financial crisis in Q2 of 1998.

Overnight U.S. Stock News

March S&Ps this morning are trading down -1.90 points. The US stock market on Thursday fluctuated between gains and losses and finally settled higher as a fall in borrowing costs at debt auctions in Europe and upbeat comments from ECB President Draghi offset disappointing data on weekly U.S. jobless claims and Dec retail sales: Dow Jones +0.17%, S&P 500 +0.23%, Nasdaq Composite +0.51%. The S&P 500 posted a 5-1/4 month high and the Nasdaq rose to a 2-month high. Bullish factors included (1) optimistic comments from ECB President Draghi who said he sees "tentative signs" the Euro-Zone economy is stabilizing, which fueled a rally in European stocks that carried over to U.S. markets and (2) strong demand for debt auctions by Spain and Italy which lowered their yields and eases concern the countries will struggle to finance their debts.
Bearish factors yesterday included (1) the larger-than-expected increase in weekly initial U.S. unemployment claims (+24,000 to 399,000 versus expectations of +3,000 to 375,000) and (2) the weaker-than-expected Dec U.S. retail sales (+0.1% and -0.2% less autos versus expectations of +0.3% and +0.3% less autos).
JPMorgan Chase (JPM) fell 2.3% in pre-market trading after the bank reported Q4 profit of 90 cents a share as expected, and said weak trading revenues caused net income to fall to $3.73 billion from $4.83 billion in the same period a year earlier.

Today's Market Focus

March 10-year T-notes this morning are up +8.5 ticks. T-note prices on Thursday retreated from a 3-week high and settled lower after upbeat comments from ECB President Draghi reduced the safe-haven demand for Treasuries: TYH2 -7.5, FVH2 -2.2, EDM2 +4.0. Bearish factors included (1) optimistic comments from ECB President Draghi who said he sees "tentative signs" the Euro-Zone economy is stabilizing, (2) strong demand for debt auctions by Spain and Italy which lowered their yields and reduced the safe-haven demand for Treasuries, and (3) slack demand for the Treasury's $13 billion auction of 30-year T-bonds that had a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.60, weaker than the 12-auction average of 2.68. Bullish factors included (1) the larger-than-expected increase in weekly initial U.S. unemployment claims (+24,000 to 399,000 versus expectations of +3,000 to 375,000) and (2) the weaker-than-expected Dec U.S. retail sales (+0.1% and -0.2% less autos versus expectations of +0.3% and +0.3% less autos).
The dollar index this morning is higher with the dollar/yen -0.02 yen and the euro/dollar -0.28 cents. The dollar index on Thursday retreated and settled lower after the euro rallied when ECB President Draghi said he saw signs of stabilization in the economy and after Italy and Spain borrowing costs fell when they had successful government debt auctions: Dollar Index -0.581, USDJPY -0.095, EURUSD +0.01081. Bearish factors included (1) strong demand for debt auctions by Spain and Italy which lowered their yields and eased concern the countries will struggle to finance their debts, (2) euro positive comments from ECB President Draghi who said he sees "tentative signs" the Euro-Zone economy is stabilizing, and (3) weaker-than-expected U.S. economic data on weekly jobless claims and Dec retail sales, which is dollar negative. Bullish factors included (1) weakness in the British pound which fell to 3-month low against the dollar after Nov U.K. industrial production fell more than expected and (2) increased safe-haven demand for he dollar after the statement from the IIF that time is "running out" after talks between banks holding Greek debt and Greek officials failed to find an agreement as bondholders say the EU agreement to exchange Greek bonds for new securities with a 5% coupon would leave them with a 65% loss in the net present value of their holdings of Greek government debt, more than the 50% haircut banks had agreed upon back in Oct.
Feb crude oil prices this morning are down -8 cents a barrel and Feb gasoline is +0.40 of a cent per gallon. Crude oil and gasoline prices Thursday moved higher as the dollar weakened, the European economic outlook improved and as a strike in Nigeria threatens to reduce global crude supplies but prices tumbled late in the session when an EU official said any EU embargo of Iranian oil will likely be delayed for 6 months: CLG12 -$1.77, RBG12 -3.20. Feb gasoline posted a 2-1/2 moth high but shed its gains and closed lower. Bearish factors included (1) the statement from an EU official that any EU embargo on imports of Iranian crude will likely be delayed for six months to allow some EU members time to find alternative supplies, (2) the larger-than-expected decline in Nov U.K. industrial production, which suggests an economic slowdown, and (3) weak U.S. economic data on Dec retail sales and the larger-than-expected increase in weekly U.S. jobless claims, which signals economic weakness that is negative for energy consumption. Bullish factors included (1) the weaker dollar, which fuels investment demand in commodities, (2) comments from ECB President Draghi who said there are signs the Euro-Zone economy is stabilizing, which would be positive for fuel demand, and (3) a strike by Nigerian oil workers over the government's refusal to reinstate fuel subsidies, which threatens to reduce Nigerian crude output.

Today's U.S. Earnings Reports Earnings reports (confirmed releases, sorted by mkt cap): JPM-JPMorgan Chase (BEST earnings consensus $0.90), MSCI-MSCI Inc. (0.44), CRAI-CRA International (0.37), NWPX-Northwest Pipe (0.35).
Global Financial Calendar

Friday 1/13/12
United States
0830 ET	Dec import price index expected -0.1% m/m and +8.3% y/y, Nov +0.7% m/m and +9.9% y/y.
0830 ET	Nov trade balance expected -$45.0 billion, Oct -$43.5 billion.
0955 ET	Preliminary Jan U.S. University of Michigan consumer confidence expected +1.6 to 71.5, Dec +5.8 to 69.9.
1110 ET	Fed Governor Elizabeth Duke speaks on ?Regulation and Credit Availability? at the California Bankers Association Bank Presidents Seminar.
1245 ET	Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker speaks on the economic outlook to the Risk Management Association of Richmond, VA.
1300 ET	Chicago Fed President Charles Evans speaks at the Indiana Bankers Association economic outlook forum.
1315 ET	St. Louis Fed President James Bullard speaks on the ?U.S. Economy and Monetary Policy? at the Edward Jones Annual Meeting.
United Kingdom
0430 ET	Dec U.K. PPI input prices expected -0.1% m/m and +9.1% y/y, Nov +0.1% m/m and +13.4% y/y.
0430 ET	Dec U.K. PPI output prices expected +0.1% m/m and +5.0% y/y, Nov +0.2% m/m and +5.4% y/y.
0430 ET	Dec U.K. PPI output core prices expected unchanged m/m and +3.2% y/y, Nov unchanged m/m and +3.2% y/y.
Euro-Zone
n/a	EU Financial-Services Commissioner Michel Barnier meets with ECB Council member and BOF President Christian Noyer in Paris.

Barchart.com provides Financial Quotes, Charts and Technical Analysis for Stock and Commodity Traders.

Wyndham Worldwide - WYN - Barchart Chart of the Day

2012-01-13T10:17:00.002-05:00

Barchart.com's Chart of the Day - Wyndham Worldwide (WYN)

Barchart Research Team - Barchart.com - Thu Jan 12, 6:33PM CST

Related Stocks

WYN - Wyndham Worldwide Corp

Sym	Last	Chg	Pct
WYN	39.44	-0.06	-0.15%

The "Chart of the Day" is Wyndham Worldwide (WYN), which showed up on Thursday's Barchart "All Time High" list. Wyndham on Thursday posted a new all-time high of $39.59 and closed up 1.39%. TrendSpotter has been Long since Dec 20 at $35.97. In recent news on the stock, Jefferies on Nov 22 initiated coverage on Wyndham with a Buy and a target of $49. Susquehanna on Oct 27 reiterated its Positive rating and raised its target to $42 from $39. Wyndham Worldwide, with a market cap of $6 billion, operates in the lodging, vacation exchange and rentals, and vacation ownership segments of the hospitality industry.

How we found the Chart of the Day:
We found the "Chart of the Day" by scanning the Barchart "All Time High" list. In order to get to that list, we first clicked on the Stocks menu item on the Barchart home page, then on the "All Time Highs" menu item on the left menu bar. We then sorted the list by percentage gainers by clicking on the "Percent" column title. A stock that has posted a new All-Time high is typically showing strong upside momentum.
The status of Barchart's Opinion trading systems are listed below. Please note that the Barchart Opinion indicators are updated live during the session every 10 minutes and can therefore change during the day as the market fluctuates. The indicator numbers shown below therefore may not match what you see live on the Barchart.com web site when you read this report.

TrendSpotter: Buy
Short-Term Indicators: 80% Buy
Medium-Term Indicators: 100% Buy
Long-Term Indicators: 100% Buy
Overall Average 96% Buy

Chart of the Day Archive
View Past Chart of the Day Reports

Quicksilver - ZQK - moving up

2012-01-12T09:33:00.000-05:00

On today's Barchart new highs S&P 600 smallcap list: Quicksilver - ZQK

Barchart technical indicators:

80% Barchart technical buy signal
Trend Spotter buy signal
Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
14 new highs and up 25.16% in the last month
Relative strength Index 65.59%
Barchart computes a technical support level at 3.77
Recently traded at 3.98 with a 50 day moving average of 3.34

Meadowbrook Insurance - MIG

2012-01-12T09:19:00.000-05:00

On Barchart's new high list for the S&P 600 smallcaps: Meadowbrook Insurance (MIG)

Barchart technical indicators:

96% Barchart technical buy signal
Trend Spotter buy signal
Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
15 new highs and up 8.39% in the last month
Relative Strength Index 67.91%
Barchart computes a technical support level at 11.05
Recently traded at 11.24 with a 50 day moving average of 10.38

Perficient - PRFT - Moving up

2012-01-12T09:08:00.000-05:00

On the S&P 600 smallcap new high list on Barchart this morning: Perficient (PRFT

Barchart technical indicators:

96% Barchart technical buy signal
Trend Spotter buy signal
Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving average
16 new highs and up 37.90% in the last month
Relative Strength Index 70.93%
Barchart computes a technical support level at 10.40
Recently traded at 10.77 with a 50 day moving average of 9.26

Barchart Morning Call 1/12

2012-01-12T08:57:00.000-05:00

Barchart Morning Call

Barchart.com - 54 mins ago

Overnight Developments

Global stocks this morning are mixed with the Euro Stoxx 50 up +0.43% and Mar S&Ps up +7.10 points at a 5-1/4 month high. As expected, the BOE maintained its benchmark rate at 0.50% and held the asset purchase target at 275 billion pounds following its policy meeting. European and U.S. stocks rose, the dollar and Treasuries weakened and most commodities gained with copper at a 1-month high, after Spain sold twice the maximum target of bonds and Italy sold 12 billion euros of bills, easing concern the countries will struggle to finance their debts. Spain sold 9.98 billion euros of notes, compared with a target of 5 billion euros, while Italy sold 1-year bills at 2.735%, less than half the 5.952% that they sold at a similar auction last month. The British pound fell to a 3-month low against the dollar after Nov U.K. industrial production fell -0.7% m/m and -3.1% y/y, weaker than expectations of -0.1% m/m and -2.2% y/y, with the -3.1% y/y plunge the largest decline in nearly 2 years. On a bright note, Dec German CPI (EU harmonized) was unexpectedly revised lower to +0.7% m/m and +2.3% y/y from the originally reported +0.8% m/m and +2.4% y/y, with the +2.3% y/y increase the smallest in 9 months.
Asian stocks today closed mostly lower with Japan down -0.74%, China -0.02%, Australia -0.16%, South Korea +1.09%, India -0.86%. Chinese stocks closed little changed after Dec China CPI fell for a fifth month to a 15-month low of +4.1% y/y, although stronger than expectations of +4.0% y/y. Japanese stocks closed lower, led by a slide in exporters, after the Nov Japan current-account surplus narrowed 86% to 138.5 billion yen ($1.8 billion), more than expectations of a 248.4 billion yen surplus and the smallest surplus in 2-3/4 years as a strong yen and slowing growth in Europe and China dampened demand for Japanese goods. Stocks in India closed lower despite Nov India industrial production rising +5.9% y/y, stronger than expectations of +2.1% y/y and a sign that consumer and business demand is withstanding the RBI's recent interest rate hikes.

Overnight U.S. Stock News

March S&Ps this morning are trading up +7.10 points at a 5-1/4 month high. The US stock market on Wednesday settled mixed as a rally in homebuilder stocks was offset by concern that Europe's debt crisis will stifle global economic growth: Dow Jones -0.10%, S&P 500 +0.03%, Nasdaq Composite +0.31%. Bearish factors yesterday included (1) carry-over weakness from a decline in European stocks on concern the European debt crisis may worsen and curb economic growth after Nov Spain industrial production contracted by the most in 2 years (-7.0% y/y), (2) comments from David Riley, the head of sovereign ratings at Fitch Ratings, who said the ECB should boost bond purchases to support Italy and prevent a "cataclysmic" collapse of the euro, and (3) comments from Richmond Fed President Lacker who said "some of the more persistent headwinds the economy is facing are more serious than we thought."
Bullish factors included (1) a rally in homebuilding stocks after Lennar, the third-biggest U.S. homebuilder, reported a 20% y/y jump in Q4 orders, (2) comments from Chicago Fed President Evans who said signs of improvement in the economy are modest and the Fed should push forward with "substantial" easing, and (3) the upbeat Fed Beige Book that said the economy "expanded at a modest to moderate pace" across most of the U.S. from late November through the end of December.

Today's Market Focus

March 10-year T-notes this morning are down -4.5 ticks. T-note prices on Wednesday rallied to a 3-week high and remained firm most of the day on increased safe-haven demand from the ongoing European debt crisis along with dovish comments from Chicago Fed President Evans: TYH2 +15.5, FVH2 +5.7, EDM2 +3.5. Bullish factors included (1) increased safe-haven demand for Treasuries after David Riley, the head of sovereign ratings at Fitch Ratings, said the ECB should boost bond purchases to support Italy and prevent a "cataclysmic" collapse of the euro, (2) comments from Chicago Fed President Evans who said signs of improvement in the economy are modest and the Fed should push forward with "substantial" easing, and (3) decent demand for the Treasury's $21 billion auction of 10-year T-notes that had a bid-to-cover ratio of 3.29, stronger than the 12-auction average of 3.14. Bearish factors included (1) hawkish comments from Philadelphia Fed President Plosser who said the Fed should watch the risk of accelerating mid-term inflation "very carefully" after injecting record stimulus into the economy, (2) the Fed Beige Book that said the economy "expanded at a modest to moderate pace" across most of the U.S. from late November through the end of December, and (3) supply pressures ahead of the Treasury's $13 billion auction of 30-year T-bonds on Thursday.
The dollar index this morning is weaker with the dollar/yen unchanged and the euro/dollar +0.68 cents. The dollar index on Wednesday settled higher as the euro slumped to a 1-1/3 year low against the dollar lower on concern the European debt crisis may worsen: Dollar Index +0.546, USDJPY +0.007, EURUSD -0.00714. Bullish factors included (1) increased safe-haven demand for the dollar after comments from David Riley, the head of sovereign ratings at Fitch Ratings, who said the ECB should boost bond purchases to support Italy and prevent a "cataclysmic" collapse of the euro, and (2) the larger-than-expected decline in Nov Spain industrial production which dropped by the most in 2 years (-7% y/y) and is euro negative. Bearish factors included (1) strong demand for a German auction of 5-year notes after Germany received bids on 8.97 billion euros of 5-year notes on auction today, more than double the maximum sales target of 4 billion euros, (2) dollar negative comments from Chicago Fed President Evans who said signs of improvement in the economy are modest and warrant "substantial" monetary stimulus from the Fed, which suggests he favors implementation of QE3, and (3) reduced demand for dollars by European banks after the 3-month cross-currency basis swap, the rate banks pay to convert euro interest payments into dollars, shrank to 89 points below the euro interbank offered rate, the lowest in 3-3/4 months.
Feb crude oil prices this morning are up +$1.33 a barrel and Feb gasoline is +2.39 cents per gallon. Crude oil and gasoline prices Wednesday fell back and settled lower as the dollar strengthened, weekly DOE inventories rose more than expected and fuel demand weakened: CLG12 -$1.37, RBG12 -0.95. Bearish factors included (1) the stronger dollar, which cuts investment demand in commodities, (2) the larger-than-expected increases in weekly DOE inventories after crude supplies rose +4.96 million bbl, stronger than expectations of +1.0 million bbl, while gasoline stockpiles climbed +3.61 million bbl to a 9-3/4 month high of 223.8 million bbl, and (3) slack demand after U.S. gasoline demand for the week ended Jan 6 slipped -4.4% to 8.18 million barrels per day, the lowest in nearly 9 years. Bullish factors included (1) rising tension over Iran's nuclear program after an Iranian nuclear scientist was killed in a car bomb attack and (2) comments from Chicago Fed President Evans who said the Fed should push forward with "substantial" monetary stimulus, which may boost economic growth and energy demand.

Today's U.S. Earnings Reports Earnings reports (confirmed releases, sorted by mkt cap): n/a (BEST earnings consensus $0.00).
Global Financial Calendar

Thursday 1/12/12
United States
0830 ET	Weekly initial unemployment claims expected +3,000 to 375,000, previous -15,000 to 372,000. Weekly continuing claims expected -5,000 to 3.590 million, previous -22,000 to 3.595 million.
0830 ET	Dec retail sales expected +0.3% and +0.3% less autos, Nov +0.2% and +0.2% less autos.
1000 ET	Nov business inventories expected +0.4%, Oct +0.8%.
1100 ET	Treasury announces amount of 10-year TIPS to be auctioned Jan 19.
1300 ET	Treasury auctions $13 billion 30-year T-bonds.
1400 ET	Dec monthly budget statement expected -$83.2 billion, Nov -$137.3 billion.
1630 ET	Weekly money supply report and Fed balance sheet.
Japan
0000 ET	Dec Japan eco watchers survey current, Nov 45.0. Dec eco watchers survey outlook, Nov 44.7.
0100 ET	Dec Japan machine tool orders, Nov +15.8% y/y.
2300 ET	Dec Japan bankruptcies, Nov +3.2% y/y.
France
0130 ET	Dec French CPI (EU harmonized) expected +0.3% m/m and +2.5% y/y, Nov +0.3% m/m and +2.7% y/y.
Germany
0200 ET	Revised Dec German CPI (EU harmonized) expected no change at +0.8% m/m and +2.4% y/y.
United Kingdom
0430 ET	Nov U.K. industrial production expected -0.1% m/m and -2.2% y/y, Oct -0.7% m/m and -1.7% y/y.
0430 ET	Nov U.K. manufacturing production expected -0.2% m/m and -0.5% y/y, Oct -0.7% m/m and +0.3% y/y.
0700 ET	BOE announces interest rate decision and asset purchase target (expected no change to the 0.50% benchmark rate and no change to the 275 billion pound asset purchase target).
Euro-Zone
0500 ET	Nov Euro-Zone industrial production expected -0.2% m/m and +0.3% y/y, Oct -0.1% m/m and +1.3% y/y.
0745 ET	ECB announces interest rate decision (expected no change to the 1.00% 2-week refinancing rate).
0830 ET	ECB President Mario Draghi speaks at monthly press conference.
Canada
0830 ET	Nov Canada new housing price index expected +0.2% m/m, Oct +0.2% m/m and +2.5% y/y.

Barchart.com provides Financial Quotes, Charts and Technical Analysis for Stock and Commodity Traders.

IHS Inc - IHS - Barchart Chart of the Day

2012-01-12T08:53:00.000-05:00

Barchart.coms Chart of the Day - IHS Inc (IHS)

Barchart Research Team - Barchart.com - Wed Jan 11, 7:14PM CST

Related Stocks

IHS - Ihs Inc.

Sym	Last	Chg	Pct
IHS	91.57	+0.46	+0.50%

The "Chart of the Day" is IHS Inc (IHS), which showed up on Wednesday's Barchart "All Time High" list. IHS on Wednesday posted a new all-time high of $91.74 and closed up 0.50%. TrendSpotter just turned Long again on IHS on Tuesday at $91.11. In recent news on the stock, RW Baird on Jan 9 reiterated its Outperform rating and raised its target to $95 from $92 due to strong sales growth in certain segments. IHS on Jan 6 reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 99 cents, above the consensus of 93 cents. IHS Inc, with a market cap of $5.8 billion, is a leading global provider of critical technical information, decision-support tools and related services to customers in a number of industries including energy, defense, aerospace, construction, electronics, and automotive.

How we found the Chart of the Day:
We found the "Chart of the Day" by scanning the Barchart "All Time High" list. In order to get to that list, we first clicked on the Stocks menu item on the Barchart home page, then on the "All Time Highs" menu item on the left menu bar. We then sorted the list by percentage gainers by clicking on the "Percent" column title. A stock that has posted a new All-Time high is typically showing strong upside momentum.
The status of Barchart's Opinion trading systems are listed below. Please note that the Barchart Opinion indicators are updated live during the session every 10 minutes and can therefore change during the day as the market fluctuates. The indicator numbers shown below therefore may not match what you see live on the Barchart.com web site when you read this report.

TrendSpotter: Buy
Short-Term Indicators: 60% Buy
Medium-Term Indicators: 100% Buy
Long-Term Indicators: 100% Buy
Overall Average 88% Buy

Chart of the Day Archive
View Past Chart of the Day Reports

Mineral Technologies - MTX

2012-01-11T10:38:00.000-05:00

On Barchart's S&P midcap 400 new high list today: Minerals Technologies (MTX)

Barchart technical indicators:

96% Barchart technical buy signal
Trend Spotter buy signal
Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
13 new highs and up 6.86% in the last month
Relative Strength Index 61.83%
Barchart computes a technical support level at 59.98
Recently traded at 60.31 with a 50 day moving average of 56.44

Cullen/Frost Bankers - CFR

2012-01-11T10:21:00.000-05:00

On the S&P midcap 400 new high list today on Barchart: Cullen/Frost Bankers (CFR)

Barchart technical indicators:

96% Barchart technical buy signal
Trend Spotter buy signal
Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
14 new highs and 6.41% in the last month
Relative Strength Index 64.87%
Barchart computes a technical support level at 55.36
Traded recently at 55.44 with a 50 day moving average of 51.09

Washington Federal - WFSL - moving

2012-01-11T10:04:00.000-05:00

From today's S&P midcap 400 new high list on Barchart: Washington Federal (WFSL)

Barchart technical indicators:

80% Barchart technical buy signal
Trend Spotter buy signal
Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
14 new highs and up 10.07% in the last month
Relative Strength Index 63.76%
Barchart computes a technical support level at 14.47
Recently traded at 14.64 with a 50 day moving average of 13.51

Barchart Morning Call 1/11

2012-01-11T09:51:00.000-05:00

Barchart Morning Call

Barchart.com - 1 hr 47 mins ago

Overnight Developments

Global stocks this morning are mixed with the Euro Stoxx 50 down -1.01% and Mar S&Ps down -5.40 points. The dollar index and Treasuries rose and commodities were mixed, although Feb gold and Mar copper both climbed to 3-1/2 week highs. The euro weakened against the dollar after Nov Spain industrial production slid -7.0% y/y, weaker than expectations of -5.4% y/y and the biggest decline in 2 years. Another negative for stocks and the euro were comments from David Riley, the head of sovereign ratings at Fitch Ratings who said the ECB should boost bond purchases to support Italy and prevent a "cataclysmic" collapse of the euro. German bunds rallied after Germany received bids on 8.97 billion euros of 5-year notes on auction today, more than double the maximum sales target of 4 billion euros. European banks continue to refrain from lending as they remain wary of counter-party risk when they parked a record 486 billion euros in overnight deposits at the ECB on Tuesday.
Asian stocks today closed mixed with Japan up +0.30%, China -0.48%, Australia +0.85%, South Korea -0.36%, India +0.07%. Asian markets finished mostly higher as exporters advanced as optimism about the U.S. economy tempered concern the European debt crisis will worsen. Raw material producers gained as copper climbed to a 3-1/2 week high, while a rally in Indian retailers led India's stock market higher after the government removed a limit on foreign investment in single-brand store chains, which paves the way for international companies such as Starbucks and Ikea to operate in the country without a local partner. Chinese stocks closed lower, led by a fall in phone companies amid concern increased competition will hurt profits as China Telecom, the third-biggest phone carrier in China, moves closer to getting government approval to offer Apple's iPhone.

Overnight U.S. Stock News

March S&Ps this morning are trading down -5.40 points. The US stock market on Tuesday moved higher on increased economic optimism amid speculation China may loosen its monetary policy to spur growth: Dow Jones +0.56%, S&P 500 +0.89%, Nasdaq Composite +0.97%. The S&P 500 and the Dow posted 5-1/4 month highs and the Nasdaq climbed to a 2-month high. Bullish factors yesterday included (1) strength in commodity producers on speculation China will loosen its monetary policies to spur growth after Dec China exports climbed at the slowest pace in 10 months and Dec Chine imports rose at the weakest pace in over 2 years, and (2) comments from San Francisco Fed President Williams it's "vital" for the Fed to aid the U.S. economy "suffering" from high unemployment, anemic spending and a weak housing market, and that he sees a "strong" case for more Fed purchases of mortgage bonds given his expectations that inflation will fall below 1.5% this year.
Bearish factors included (1) concern the European sovereign debt crisis may worsen after Fitch Ratings said that Italy faces a "significant chance" of a downgrade when it reviews all European sovereigns at the end of this month, (2) comments from ECB Council member Nowotny who said he sees Euro-Zone growth at zero this year with the risk of a "velvet recession" in the Euro-Zone, and (3) comments from Cleveland Fed President Pianalto who said the U.S. economic recovery is "frustratingly slow" due to "headwinds" such as "depressed" housing markets, the sovereign debt crisis in Europe and government spending cuts.
Microsoft (MSFT) fell 1.0% in pre-market trading after the company said industrywide sales of personal computers in Q4 will probably be lower than analysts projected because supply was hurt by flooding in Thailand.

Today's Market Focus

March 10-year T-notes this morning are up +4.5 ticks. T-note prices on Tuesday fluctuated between gains and losses and settled slightly lower as a rally in stocks reduced the safe-haven demand for Treasuries and offset dovish Fed commentary and heightened European sovereign debt risks: TYH2 -4.5, FVH2 -2.0, EDM2 +0.5. Bearish factors included (1) reduced safe-haven demand for Treasuries after the S&P 500 rallied to a 5-1/4 month high and (2) supply pressures ahead of the Treasury's $21 billion auction of 10-year T-notes on Wednesday. Bullish factors included (1) comments from Cleveland Fed President Pianalto who said the U.S. economic recovery is "frustratingly slow" due to "headwinds" such as "depressed" housing markets, the sovereign debt crisis in Europe and government spending cuts, (2) comments from San Francisco Fed President Williams that it's "vital" for the Fed to aid the U.S. economy "suffering" from high unemployment, anemic spending and a weak housing market, and that he sees a "strong" case for more Fed purchases of mortgage bonds given his expectations that inflation will fall below 1.5% this year, (3) increased safe-haven demand for Treasuries on concern the European sovereign debt crisis will worsen after Fitch Ratings said that Italy faces a "significant chance" of a downgrade when it reviews all European sovereigns at the end of this month, and (4) record demand for the Treasury's $32 billion 3-year T-note auction that had a bid-to-cover ratio of 3.73, higher than the 12-auction average of 3.26 and the highest since at least 1993 when the government began releasing the data.
The dollar index this morning is higher with the dollar/yen +0.10 yen and the euro/dollar -0.75 cents. The dollar index on Tuesday settled lower on reduced safe-haven demand as stocks rallied and after the euro gained when Nov French industrial production unexpectedly increased: Dollar Index -0.246, USDJPY +0.003, EURUSD +0.00129. Bearish factors included (1) reduced safe-haven demand for the dollar as the S&P 500 rallied to a 5-1/4 month high, (2) strength in the euro after the Dec Bank of France business sentiment and Nov French industrial production both unexpectedly increased, and (3) comments from San Francisco Fed President Williams who said it's "vital" for the Fed to support a U.S. economy hobbled by high unemployment, anemic spending and a weak housing market, which suggests he may favor additional Fed stimulus measures. Bullish factors included (1) comments from ECB Council member Nowotny who said he sees Euro-Zone growth at zero this year with the risk of a "velvet recession" in the Euro-Zone, (2) the action by the Bank of Portugal to reduce its 2012 Portuguese GDP estimate to -3.1% contraction, larger than an Oct estimate of -2.2%, which may make it harder to refinance its debt and worsen the European debt crisis, and (3) the statement from Fitch Ratings that Italy faces a "significant chance" of a downgrade when it reviews all European sovereigns at the end of this month, which undercut the euro and boosted the safe-haven demand for the dollar.
Feb crude oil prices this morning are down -83 cents a barrel and Feb gasoline is -1.13 cents per gallon. Crude oil and gasoline prices Tuesday settled higher as a rally in global equity markets raised economic optimism along with growing concern that geopolitical tensions with Iran may lead to a disruption of global crude supplies: CLG12 +$0.93, RBG12 +1.38. Feb gasoline posted a 2-1/2 month high. Bullish factors included (1) the weaker dollar, which boosts investment demand in commodities, (2) the rally in the S&P 500 Index to a 5-1/4 month high, which boost optimism in the economic outlook and energy demand and (3) geopolitical concerns after the EU brought forward a meeting on a possible oil embargo against Iran to Jan 23 from Jan 30. Bearish factors included (1) concern that the Chinese economy is slowing after Dec China exports slowed to their least in 10 months while Dec China imports rose at the weakest pace in over 2 years, which may reduce energy demand and consumption in the world's second-largest consumer of crude oil and (2) reduced demand for heating oil due to the unseasonably warm U.S. winter this far after data from the U.S. Climate Prediction Center showed average heating days in the U.S. have failed to reach normal levels for 11 straight weeks. Expectations for the weekly inventory report from the DOE are for crude oil supplies to increase +1.0 million bbl, gasoline stockpiles to gain +2.5 million bbl, distillates to rise 2.25 million bbl and the refinery utilization rate to gain +0.5 to 85.5%.

Today's U.S. Earnings Reports Earnings reports (confirmed releases, sorted by mkt cap): LEN-Lennar (BEST earnings consensus $0.15), SVU-SuperValu (0.25), FUL-HB Fuller (0.59), RELL-Richardson Electronics Ltd. (0.10).
Global Financial Calendar

Wednesday 1/11/12
United States
0700 ET	Weekly MBA mortgage applications, previous -4.1% with purchase mortgage sub-index -9.6% and refinancing sub-index -2.5%.
0840 ET	Chicago Fed President Charles Evans speaks to the Rotary Club of Lake Forest, Illinois.
0900 ET	Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart speaks on the U.S. economy at an event in Atlanta.
1230 ET	Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser speaks on the economic outlook at an event in Rochester, NY.
1300 ET	Treasury auctions $21 billion 10-year T-notes.
1400 ET	Fed?s Beige Book.
Japan
0000 ET	Nov Japan coincident index CI expected 90.3, Oct 91.4. Nov leading index CI expected 92.9, Oct 92.0.
CHI
2030 ET	Dec China PPI expected +1.6% y/y, Nov +2.7% y/y. Dec CPI expected +4.0% y/y, Nov +4.2% y/y.

Barchart.com provides Financial Quotes, Charts and Technical Analysis for Stock and Commodity Traders.

Oneok - OKE - Barchart Chart of the ay

2012-01-11T09:46:00.000-05:00

Barchart.coms Chart of the Day - ONEOK (OKE)

Barchart Research Team - Barchart.com - Tue Jan 10, 7:54PM CST

Related Stocks

OKE - Oneok

Sym	Last	Chg	Pct
OKE	88.16	+1.40	+1.61%

The "Chart of the Day" is ONEOK (OKE), which showed up on Tuesday's Barchart "All Time High" list. ONEOK on Tuesday posted a new all-time high of $88.38 and closed up 1.61%. TrendSpotter has been Long on the stock for about 3 months since Oct 18 at $72.25. In recent news on the stock, Morgan Stanley on Nov 15 upgraded ONEOK to Overweight from Equal Weight and raised its price target to $93 from $82 based on growth from Bakken and Mid-Continent and the company's dividend growth. ONEOK, with a market cap of $9 billion, is engaged in the natural gas business.

How we found the Chart of the Day:
We found the "Chart of the Day" by scanning the Barchart "All Time High" list. In order to get to that list, we first clicked on the Stocks menu item on the Barchart home page, then on the "All Time Highs" menu item on the left menu bar. We then sorted the list by percentage gainers by clicking on the "Percent" column title. A stock that has posted a new All-Time high is typically showing strong upside momentum.
The status of Barchart's Opinion trading systems are listed below. Please note that the Barchart Opinion indicators are updated live during the session every 10 minutes and can therefore change during the day as the market fluctuates. The indicator numbers shown below therefore may not match what you see live on the Barchart.com web site when you read this report.

TrendSpotter: Buy
Short-Term Indicators: 80% Buy
Medium-Term Indicators: 100% Buy
Long-Term Indicators: 100% Buy
Overall Average 100% Buy

Chart of the Day Archive
View Past Chart of the Day Reports

Google - GOOG

2012-01-11T09:36:00.000-05:00

Barchart technical indicators:

Only an 8% Barchart technical buy signal
Trend Spotter hold signal
Although below its 20 day moving average it is still above its 50 and 100 day moving averages
Only 7.20% off its 1 year high
Relative Strength Index 45.92%
Barchart computes a technical support level at 607.34
Recently traded at 622.56 with a 50 day moving average of 614.75

Home Depot - HD - Moving on up

2012-01-10T10:59:00.002-05:00

On Barchart's S&P 500 new highs list Home Depot (HD) is moving on up:

Brachart technical indicators:

96% Barchart technical buy signal
Trend Spotter buy signal
Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
14 new highs and up 8.10% in the last month
Relative Strength Index 74.21%
Barchart computes a technical support level at 43.04
Recently traded at 43.64 with a 50 day moving average of 39.39

General Electric - GE - Moving on up

2012-01-10T10:49:00.000-05:00

On Barchart's S&P new high list General Electric (GE) is on the move:

Barchart technical indicators:

96% Barchart technical buy signal
Trend Spotter buy signal
Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
14 new highs and up 11.88% in the last month
Relative Strength Index 72.01%
Barchart computes a technical support level at 18.49
Recently traded at 18.82 with a 50 day moving average of 16.70

Time Warner - TWX - moving on up

2012-01-10T10:37:00.000-05:00

ON Barchart this morning Time Warner (TWX) is on the S&P new high list:

Barchart technical indicators:

96% Barchart technical buy signal
Trend Spotter buy signal
Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
15 new highs and up 6.91% in the last month
Relative Strength Index 66.03%
Barchart computes a technical support level at 36.73
Recently traded at 37.01 with a 50 day moving average of 34.66

Barchart Morning Call 1/10

2012-01-10T10:24:00.000-05:00

Barchart Morning Call

Barchart.com - 2 hrs 22 mins ago

Overnight Developments

Global stocks this morning are higher with the Euro Stoxx 50 up +1.24% and Mar S&Ps up +11.10 points at a 5-1/4 month high. The rally in stocks has undercut the safe-haven demand for the dollar and Treasuries, while commodities gained with gold at a 2-week high. European carmakers rallied and led the broader marker higher as Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, Daimler AG and Audi AG, owned by Volkswagen, said they plan to beat auto industry growth estimates in 2012 following record sales last year. An unexpected increase in Nov French industrial production which rose +1.1% m/m and +0.9% y/y, stronger than expectations of -0.1% m/m and -0.4% y/y, also helped to lift stocks. Limiting gains in the euro was the statement by Fitch Ratings that Italy faces a "significant chance" of a downgrade as they review all of the European sovereigns and will make a decision by the end of the month. The European banking system remains under stress after the ECB reported that overnight deposits from European lenders to the ECB on Monday rose to a record 481.93 billion euros, which fuels concern of a credit crunch as banks remain wary of lending due to counter-party risk.
Asian stocks today closed higher with Japan up +0.38%, China +3.33%, Australia +1.14%, South Korea +1.54%, India +2.22%. China's Shanghai Stock Index rallied sharply for a second day and posted a 3-week high after slowing trade data boosted speculation the government may loosen monetary policy to spur economic growth. Dec China exports rose +13.4% y/y, right on expectations but the slowest pace of growth in 10 months, while Dec China imports rose +11.8% y/y, weaker than expectations of +18.0% y/y and the weakest pace of growth in over 2 years. Other Asian stock markets also closed higher, led by gains in exporters, after Nov U.S. consumer credit had its biggest increase in a decade and boosted exporters' earnings prospects. Weakness in shipping companies limited gains in Asian stocks though, after the Baltic Dry Index, a measure of shipping costs for commodities, fell 2.9% to its lowest in 4-3/4 months.

Overnight U.S. Stock News

March S&Ps this morning are trading up +11.10 points at a 5-1/4 month high. The US stock market yesterday fluctuated on both sides of unchanged and settled slightly higher as strength in the semiconductor sector overshadowed European recession concerns: Dow Jones +0.27%, S&P 500 +0.23%, Nasdaq Composite +0.09%. Bullish factors yesterday included (1) strength in technology stocks when chipmakers rallied after Deutsche Bank AG raised the U.S. semiconductor sector to "overweight" from "equal weight" saying weak Q4 results for chipmakers create a buying opportunity for the shares, (2) reduced concern that the European debt crisis will slow the region's economic growth after Nov German exports rose +2.5% m/m, stronger than expectations of +0.5% m/m, and (3) the stronger-than-expected Nov U.S. consumer credit which posted its biggest monthly increase in 10-years (+$20.374 billion versus expectations of +$7.000 billion), which shows consumers are positive enough about the economic outlook to take on more debt.
Bearish factors included (1) carry-over weakness from a fall in European stocks after a meeting between German Chancellor Merkel and French President Sarkozy failed to provide any concrete plans to stem the region's debt crisis, (2) concern the European sovereign debt crisis will worsen after the Markit iTraxx SovX Western Europe Index of credit-default swaps that insure European sovereign debt rose to a record, and (3) hawkish comments from St. Louis Fed President Bullard who said the Fed probably won't begin a new round of bond purchases (QE 3) following last Friday's "encouraging" jobs report.
Alcoa (AA) rose 2.4% in pre-market trading after the company's CEO Kleinfeld said that global aluminum demand will grow 7% this year, which when combined with Alcoa's production cuts, will lead to a global aluminum market deficit of 600,000 tons in 2012.

Today's Market Focus

March 10-year T-notes this morning are down -7 ticks. T-note prices on Monday rallied to a 1-week high and settled higher on dovish comments from Atlanta Fed President Lockhart along with increased safe-haven demand from the European sovereign debt crisis: TYH2 +3.5, FVH2 +3.0, EDM2 +4.5. Bullish factors included (1) comments from Atlanta Fed President Lockhart who said he sees "reluctance to change" the current record accommodation by the Fed as some areas of the U.S. economy are still "challenged," and (2) increased safe-haven demand for Treasuries on concern the European sovereign debt crisis will worsen after the Markit iTraxx SovX Western Europe Index of credit-default swaps that insure European sovereign debt rose to a record. Bearish factors included (1) hawkish comments from St. Louis Fed President Bullard who said the Fed probably won't begin a new round of bond purchases (QE 3) following last Friday's "encouraging" jobs report and (2) supply pressures ahead of the Treasury's $32 billion auction of 3-year T-notes on Tuesday.
The dollar index this morning is lower with the dollar/yen +0.01 yen and the euro/dollar +0.08 cents. The dollar index on Monday rallied up to a 1-1/4 year high but shed its gains and closed lower after stronger-than-expected Nov German exports fueled short covering in the euro: Dollar Index -0.203, USDJPY -0.122, EURUSD +0.00489. Bearish factors included (1) the rebound in the euro which recovered from a fresh 1-1/4 year low against the dollar and closed higher after Nov German exports rose more than expected and (2) short-covering in the euro after the CFTC reported that that futures traders increased their net short positions against the euro to a record 138,909 contracts in the week ended Jan 3. Bullish factors included (1) dollar supportive comments from St. Louis Fed President Bullard who said that the Fed probably won't begin a new round of bond purchases (QE 3) following last Friday's "encouraging" jobs report, (2) the bigger-than-expected decline in Nov German industrial production, which is euro negative, and (3) increased safe-haven demand for the dollar on concern the European sovereign debt crisis will worsen after the Markit iTraxx SovX Western Europe Index of credit-default swaps that insure European sovereign debt rose to a record 386 bp.
Feb crude oil prices this morning are up +$1.39 a barrel and Feb gasoline is +2.00 cents per gallon. Crude oil prices yesterday settled mixed as a weaker dollar supported prices while European economic concerns undercut prices: CLG12 -$0.25, RBG12 +0.74. Bearish factors included (1) signs that the European economy and fuel demand may weaken after Nov German industrial production declined more than expected and (2) concern the European debt crisis may worsen and slow global growth and energy demand after the Markit iTraxx SovX Western Europe Index of credit-default swaps that insure European sovereign debt rose to a record. Bullish factors included (1) the weaker dollar, which boosts investment demand in commodities, (2) the stronger-than-expected Nov German exports, which improves confidence that the German economy and fuel demand will withstand the negative aspects of the European debt crisis, and (3) saber rattling by U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Dempsey which heightens geopolitical risks in the Middle East when he said if Iran blocked the Strait of Hormuz the U.S. "would take action and reopen" the waterway.

Today's U.S. Earnings Reports Earnings reports (confirmed releases, sorted by mkt cap): SNX-SYNNEX (BEST earnings consensus $1.15).
Global Financial Calendar

Tuesday 1/10/12
United States
0745 ET	ICSC (Int?l Council of Shopping Centers) weekly retailer sales.
0855 ET	Redbook weekly retailer sales.
1000 ET	Jan IBD/TIPP economic optimism expected +2.2 to 45.0, Dec +2.2 to 42.8.
1000 ET	Nov wholesale inventories expected +0.5%, Oct +1.6%.
1030 ET	San Francisco Fed President John Williams speaks on the economy to the Clark County Economic Forecast Breakfast meeting in Vancouver, WA.
1110 ET	Cleveland Fed President Sandra Pianalto speaks on the labor market at an event in Wooster, Ohio.
1130 ET	Weekly 4-week and monthly 1-year T-bill auctions.
1300 ET	Treasury auctions $32 billion 3-year T-notes.
1300 ET	Kansas City Fed President Esther George speaks on the 2012 economic outlook at an event in Kansas City, MO.
France
0230 ET	Dec Bank of France business sentiment expected unchanged at 95, Nov -1 to 95.
0245 ET	Nov French industrial production expected -0.1% m/m and -0.4% y/y, Oct unchanged m/m and +1.8% y/y.
0245 ET	Nov French manufacturing production expected -0.4% m/m and -0.1% y/y, Oct unchanged m/m and +2.6% y/y.
Canada
0815 ET	Dec Canada housing starts expected +188,000, Nov +181,200.
CHI
n/a	Dec China trade balance expected +$8.80 billion, Nov +$14.53 billion. Dec exports expected +13.4% y/y, Nov +13.8% y/y. Dec imports expected +18.0% y/y, Nov +22.1% y/y.

Barchart.com provides Financial Quotes, Charts and Technical Analysis for Stock and Commodity Traders.

Kansas City Southern - KSU - Barchart Chart of the Day

2012-01-10T10:19:00.000-05:00

Barchart.coms Chart of the Day - Kansas City Southern (KSU)

Barchart Research Team - Barchart.com - Mon Jan 09, 7:00PM CST

Related Stocks

KSU - Kansas City Southern

Sym	Last	Chg	Pct
KSU	72.82	+1.54	+2.16%

The "Chart of the Day" is Kansas City Southern (KSU), which showed up on Monday's Barchart "All Time High" list. KSU on Monday posted a new all-time high of $71.40 and closed up 2.30%. TrendSpotter has been Long since Dec 23 at $67.38. In recent news on the stock, Morgan Stanley on Jan 9 named KSU at a long Research Tactical Idea. Pragmatic Capitalism on Dec 23 reported that railroad traffic during the week ending Dec 17 jumped to +11.7% y/y. Kansas City Southern, with a market cap of $7.7 billion, is a transportation holding company with two primary subsidiaries. The Kansas City Southern Railway Company, is one of seven Class I railroads operating in the United States. Kansas City Southern de M'xico, SA. de C.V. is one of three large regional railroads in Mexico. KCS also owns 50% of the Panama Canal Railway Company in Panama.

How we found the Chart of the Day:
We found the "Chart of the Day" by scanning the Barchart "All Time High" list. In order to get to that list, we first clicked on the Stocks menu item on the Barchart home page, then on the "All Time Highs" menu item on the left menu bar. We then sorted the list by percentage gainers by clicking on the "Percent" column title. A stock that has posted a new All-Time high is typically showing strong upside momentum.
The status of Barchart's Opinion trading systems are listed below. Please note that the Barchart Opinion indicators are updated live during the session every 10 minutes and can therefore change during the day as the market fluctuates. The indicator numbers shown below therefore may not match what you see live on the Barchart.com web site when you read this report.

TrendSpotter: Buy
Short-Term Indicators: 80% Buy
Medium-Term Indicators: 100% Buy
Long-Term Indicators: 100% Buy
Overall Average 100% Buy

Chart of the Day Archive
View Past Chart of the Day Reports

United Therapeautics - UTHR

2012-01-09T16:10:00.000-05:00

From the Barchart 1/9 new high lists: United Therapeutics (UTHR)

Barchart technical indicators:

96% Barchart technical buy signal
Trend Spotter buy signal
Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
14 new highs and up 14.68% in the last month
Relative Strength Index 69.60
Barchart computes a technical support level at 46.88
Recently traded at 48.33 with a 50 day moving average of 43.10

Valspar - VAL - new highs

2012-01-09T15:51:00.000-05:00

From the 1/9 Barchart new high list: Valspar (VAL)

Barchart technical indicators:

96% Barchart technical buy signal
Trend Spotter buy signal
Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
15 new highs and up 8.14% in the last month
Relative Strength Index 69.64%
Barchart computes a technical support level at 39.43
Recently traded at 39.99 with a 50 day moving average of 36.45