Select Comfort - SCSS - sell signals

This morning on Barchart there were sell signals on Select Comfort Corp (SCSS).

Barchart technical indicators:

• 60% Barchart overall technical sell signal
• Trend Spotter sell signal
• Below its 20 and 50 day moving averages
• 19.60% off its recent high
• Relative Strength Index 33.82% and falling
• Trades around 15.51 which is below its 50 day moving average of 16.70

Jim Van Meerten is a Marketocracy Master

Aaron's sell signals

This morning on Barchart there were sell signals on Aaron's (AAN) and a really ugly chart.

Barchart technical indicators:

• 48% Barchart overall sell signal
• Trend Spotter sell signal
• Trading below its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
• 13.77% off its recent high
• Relative Strength Index 28.87% and falling
• Trading around 25.30 which is below its 50 day moving average of 27.13

Jim Van Meerten is a Marketocracy Master

Barchart Morning Call 7/29

Barchart Morning Call

Barchart.com - 52 mins ago

Overnight Developments

• Sep S&Ps this morning are trading 6.70 points lower (-0.52%) on the debt ceiling. The Euro Stoxx 50 is down 1.13% on the U.S. debt ceiling debacle plus Moody's statement it may downgrade Spain's bond rating. Asian stocks today closed lower across the board: Japan -0.69%, Hong Kong -0.58%, China -0.30%, Taiwan -1.40%, Australia -0.88%, Singapore -0.02%, South Korea -1.05%, Bombay -0.07%.
• The House last night adjourned without a vote on the Boehner debt ceiling plan because he was reportedly about 4 votes short of support from members of his own Republican party. It is not clear whether Speaker Boehner will spend most of today trying to still get those votes with a revised bill, which would show Republican unity but would be futile in the end anyway because the Senate plans to immediately vote it down. Alternatively, Speaker Boehner could give up on the Tea Party hawks and immediately move to try to reach a compromise plan with the Senate that a majority group of moderate House Democrats and Republicans can support. Meanwhile, Senate Democrats are working a revised Reid plan that adopts a debt ceiling hike that will last through 2012 and that meets the House Republicans' demand for spending cuts with an enforcement mechanism that ensures the cuts will be made. Senate Majority Leader Reid and Senate Minority Leader McConnell are working on that plan that can make it through both houses of Congress with sufficient bipartisan support.
• The Treasury after today's close is expected to release a plan for how it will prioritize its financial obligations if there is no debt ceiling hike by Tuesday. The plan will reportedly say that bondholders will be paid first, which would ensure that the Treasury would not default on interest or principal payments due on Treasury security debt. That would explicitly take a Treasury default off the table. However, the Treasury technically may not have legal authority to priortize payments since Congress has the final say on what bills get paid and which do not. The Treasury has implored Congress to raise the debt ceiling so that it does not have to start prioritizing payments.
• US credit default swaps, the price to insure against a Treasury default, rose another 3 bp today to a new 2-1/4 year high of 67 bp.
• Spanish bond prices fell today after Moody's said it may downgrade Spain's credit rating. The 10-year Spanish yield spread over German bunds rose by 7 bp to 347 bp, just 30 bp below the record reached on July 12. Banco Santander, Spain's largest bank, fell 2.5% and helped drag down European bank stocks in general. The Italian-bund yield spread today rose by 12 bp to 332 bp.
• In a positive development, the July Eurozone CPI unexpectedly eased to +2.5% from +2.7% in June, although it remained above the ECB's limit of 2%.

Overnight U.S. Stock News

• September S&Ps this morning are trading 6.70 points lower (-0.52%) on the failure of the House to pass the Boehner plan, which will apparently drag out the process even further. Motorola Mobility Holdings fell 2.4% on an earnings miss. The stock market yesterday closed mixed with the Dow and S&P 500 closing lower but the Nasdaq closing slightly higher: Dow Industrials -0.51%, S&P 500 -0.32%, Nasdaq Composite +0.05%. Bearish factors yesterday continued to focus on the slow pace of the debt ceiling process and the increasing probability that the U.S. will receive a credit rating cut even with a debt ceiling hike. Exxon fell 2.2% on weaker than expected earnings, dragging down the overall indexes and the oil sector. The Nasdaq index received a boost from a 2% rally in Cisco on a Goldman recommendation.

Today's Market Focus

• September 10-year T-notes this morning are up 10.5 ticks due to the global decline in stocks. T-note prices on Thursday closed higher: TYU11 +8.5, FVU11 +6.25, EDZ11 +0.01. T-note prices continue to bounce around in a relatively narrow range, having a hard time trying to decide whether to sell off on a possible rating downgrade or rally on the economic damage being done by the debt ceiling battle. Yesterday's 7-year auction was a little disappointing with a bid cover ratio of 2.63 (versus the 12-auction average of 2.85) and with indirect bidders taking 39.6% of the auction (versus the 12-auction average of 47.8%).
• The dollar index this morning is up 0.248 points on concern the U.S. debt ceiling could create another system financial crisis. USDJPY is down 0.06 yen and EURUSD is down 0.75 cents. The dollar on Thursday closed higher on some continued short-covering with the dollar index poking up to anew 1-week high: Dollar Index +0.157, USDJPY -0.31, EURUSD -0.35. However, the dollar remains vulnerable as long as the U.S. debt ceiling hike issue remains unresolved.
• Sep crude oil prices this morning are trading down $0.70 a barrel and Sep gasoline is down 0.66 cents per gallon on the stronger dollar and on concerns the debt ceiling will hurt economic growth and fuel demand. Crude oil prices on Thursday closed slightly higher yesterday but gasoline prices closed with a moderate loss: CLU11 +0.04, RBU11 -0.0193. Crude oil was boosted by Tropical Storm Don, which has winds of 40 mpg and is headed for landfall on Friday in Southeastern Texas. The storm has caused the shutdown of about 6.8% of crude oil production and 2.8% of natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico. Meanwhile, gasoline prices continue to see pressure from Wednesday's DOE report, which showed a 1.022 million bbl rise in gasoline inventories.

Today's U.S. Earnings Reports Earnings reports (confirmed releases, sorted by mkt cap): Chevron (BEST earnings consensus $3.60), MRK-Merck (0.95), AMGN-Amgen (1.28), NEM-Newmont Mining (1.01), LYB-Lyondellbasell (1.22), AEP-American Electric (0.76), AON-AON (0.82), WY-Weyerhauser (0.08), ITT-ITT Corp (1.16), HP-Helmerich & Payne (0.98), CPN-Calpine (0.00).
Global Financial Calendar

Friday 7/29/11
United States
0830 ET	Q2 employment cost index expected +0.5%, Q1 +0.6%.
0830 ET	Q2 GDP expected +1.8% annualized, Q1 +1.9% annualized. Q2 personal consumption expected +0.8%, Q1 +2.2%. Q2 GDP price index expected +2.0%, Q1 +2.0%. Q1 core PCE deflator expected +2.3% q/q, Q1 +1.6% q/q.
0945 ET	Jul Chicago purchasing managers index expected -1.1 to 60.0, Jun +4.5 to 61.1.
0955 ET	Final Jul U.S. University of Michigan consumer confidence expected +0.2 to 64.0, previous -7.7 to 63.8.
1515 ET	Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart and St. Louis Fed President James Bullard discuss monetary policy at the 3rd Annual Rocky Mountain Economic Summit.
Japan
0000 ET	Jun Japan vehicle production, May -30.9% y/y.
0100 ET	Jun Japan construction orders, May +25.5% y/y.
0100 ET	Jun Japan housing starts expected +4.6% y/y, May +6.4% y/y.
Germany
0200 ET	Jun German retail sales expected +1.7% m/m and -1.6% y/y, May -2.5% m/m and +2.2% y/y.
France
0245 ET	Jun French producer prices expected -0.1% m/m and +5.9% y/y, May -0.5% m/m and +6.1% y/y.
0245 ET	Jun French consumer spending expected +0.8% m/m and +2.2% y/y, May -1.5% m/m and -1.0% y/y.
United Kingdom
0430 ET	Jun UK net consumer credit expected +0.3 billion pounds, May +0.2 billion pounds.
0430 ET	Jun UK mortgage approvals expected +46,000, May 45,900.
0430 ET	Jun UK M4 money supply, May +0.1% m/m and -0.2% y/y.
Euro-Zone
0500 ET	Jul Euro-Zone CPI estimate expected +2.7% y/y, Jun +2.7% y/y.
Canada
0830 ET	May Canada GDP expected +0.1% m/m, Apr unchanged m/m and +2.8% y/y.
0830 ET	Jun Canada industrial product prices, May -0.2% m/m. Jun raw materials price index, May -5.2% m/m.

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

Willians Partners - Barchart Chart of the Day

Barchart.com's Chart of the Day - Williams Partners (WPZ)

Barchart Research Team - Barchart.com - Thu Jul 28, 4:02PM CDT

Related Stocks

WPZ - Williams Partners L.P.

Sym	Last	Chg	Pct
WPZ	55.69	+0.55	+1.00%

The "Chart of the Day" is Williams Partners (WPZ), which showed up on Thursday's Barchart "All Time High" list. WPZ on Thursday edged to a new all-time high of $56.07 and closed up 1.00% at $55.69. TrendSpotter has been Long on WPZ since June 29 at $53.90. In recent news, Williams Partners (which is a Master Limited Partnership) on July 25 announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to 73.25 cents per unit, a 2% increase from 71.75 cent per unit last quarter. Williams Partners, with a market cap of $16 billion, is a natural gas operator and also manages a wholesale power business. Williams' operations are concentrated in the Pacific Northwest, Rocky Mountains, Gulf Coast, Southern California and Eastern Seaboard.


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.
Barchart's Opinion trading systems are mostly a "Buy" and Barchart's daily TrendSpotter trading system is a "Buy." 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: 75% Buy
• Long-Term Indicators: 100% Buy
• Overall Average 96% Buy

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Barchart links for further information:

Quotes and Charts
Quote
Detailed Quote
Chart

Technical Analysis
Technicals Summary
Trader's Cheat Sheet™

Barchart Opinions
Barchart Opinion
Barchart Snapshot
Trading Strategies

Company Info
Company Profile
Key Statistics
Ratios
Income Statement-Quarterly
Income Statement-Annual
Balance Sheet-Current
Balance Sheet-Annual

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

Breeze - Eastern sell signals

This morning Barchart detected technical sell signals so I deleted Breeze-Eastern (BZC) from the Barchart Van Meerten Speculative portfolio for negative price momentum.

Barchart technical indicators:

• 60% Barchart short term technical sell signal
• Below 20 and 50 day moving averages
• 12.52% off its recent high 
• Relative Strength Index 41.13% and falling

Jim Van Meerten is a Marketocracy Master

BMC Software sell signals

This morning there were major sell signals on Barchart for BMC Software (BMC) so I deleted it from the Barchart Van Meerten New High portfolio.  The stock was deleted for very negative price momentum.

Barchart technical indicators:

• 100% Barchart short term technical sell signal
• Trend Spotter technical sell signal
• Below its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
• 20.65% off its recent high
• Relative Strength Index 23.12% and falling
• Trades around 44.85 which is below its 50 day moving average of 53.23

Jim Van Meerten is a Marketocracy Master

Oceaneering International buy signals

This morning on Barchart there were buy technical buy signals on Oceaneering International (OII).

Barchart technical indicators:

• 80% Barchart technical buy signal
• Trend Spotter technical buy signal
• Above its 20, 50 and 100 bay moving averages
• 13 new highs and up 14.93% in the last month
• Relative Strength Index 65.23% and rising
• Trades around 44.59 with a 50 day moving average of 40.17
• Barchart technical support level 42.88

Jim Van Meerten is a Marketocracy Master

Philip Morris buy signals

This morning on Barchart there were buy signals on Philip Morris International (PM).

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 10.05% in the last month
• Relative Strength Index 69.18% and rising
• Trades around 72.52 which is above its 50 day moving average of 68.36
• Barchart technical support level 72.52

Jim Van Meerten is a Marketocracy Master

EQT buy signals

This morning on Barchart there were buy signals on EQT Corp (EQT) in spite of market weakness.

Barchart technical indicators:

• 80% Barchart technical buy signals
• Trend Spotter technical buy signals
• Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
• 16 new highs and up 23.92% in the last month
• Relative Strength Index is 76.21% and rising
• Trades around 53.25 which is above its 50 day moving average of 53.25
• Barchart support level 59.85

Jim Van Meerten is a Marketocracy Master

Why GE should be on your watch list

Complete article with charts and summary

A look at the chart for GE shows a decline just like the world-wide economy.

Barchart technical indicators:

• 66% Barchart technical sell signals
• Trend Spotter technical Hold signal
• Below its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
• 14.15% off its recent high
• Relative Strength Index 42.62% buy still falling
• Trading around 18.39 which is below its 50 day moving average of 18.75
• Support level presently at 17.90

Barchart Morning Call 7/28

Barchart Morning Call

Barchart.com - Wed Jul 27, 7:00AM CDT

Overnight Developments

• Global stocks are mostly lower with the European Euro Stoxx down 0.48% and Sep S&Ps down 1.10 points. U.S. stocks continue to be weighed down by the U.S. debt ceiling battle, which was delayed by a day due to the postponed vote in the House on the Boehner debt ceiling hike plan. European banking stocks were undercut by a 3% decline in Santander, Spain's largest bank, on its report that Q2 earnings fell 38% due to higher domestic loan losses and a decline in profits in its three main markets in Spain, UK and Brazil. European debt crisis contagion continues for Spain and Italy where 10-year Spanish yields today rose by 8 bp to 6.04% and with Italian bonds rising 18 bp to 5.81%. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said today that the German government is against a "blank check" for the European Financial Stability Fund to buy bonds on the secondary market. Italian business confidence in July fell by 2 points to 98.5 from 100.5 in June, which was weaker than the consensus for a decline to 99.7.
• The Asian stock markets today closed mixed: Japan -0.50%, Hong Kong -0.13%, China +0.75%, Taiwan +0.26%, Australia -0.78%, Singapore +0.22%, South Korea +0.23%, Bombay -0.46%. Chinese stocks rose 0.75% today after positive earnings news from the industrial sector.

Overnight U.S. Stock News

• September S&Ps this morning are trading slightly lower by 1.10 points as debt ceiling concerns continue. Amazon rallied sharply by about 7% in after-hours trading on Tuesday on the release of stronger-than-expected Q2 EPS and favorable Q3 guidance. The US stock market on Tuesday continued lower as the debt ceiling battle dragged on: Dow Industrials -0.73%, S&P 500 -0.41%, Nasdaq Composite -0.10%. The stock market continued lower due to the outside possibility that the debt ceiling may not be lifted by Tuesday's August 2 deadline. However, the stock market received underlying support from positive Q2 earnings reports and yesterday's 13-tick rally in Sep 10-year T-note prices.

Today's Market Focus

• September 10-year T-notes this morning are up 3.5 ticks on weakness in U.S. and European stocks. T-note prices on Tuesday closed higher as the market became more concerned about the economic fallout from the debt ceiling debacle: TYU11 +13, FVU11 +8.25, EDZ11 +0.005. Tuesday's 2-year T-note auction saw good demand despite paltry yields, suggesting that investors still view Treasury securities as a good safe-haven vehicle despite the best efforts of Congress to convince them otherwise. The 2-year saw a relatively strong bid-cover ratio of 3.22 and decent foreign participation with indirect bidders taking 34.5% of the auction, close to the 12-auction average of 35.1%.
• The dollar index this morning is trading mildly higher by 0.134 with USDJPY down 0.10 yen and EURUSD down 0.42 cents. The dollar this morning is seeing a little short-covering after the sharp sell-off in the past two weeks and is also getting some support on the euro-negative news of rising Spanish and Italian bond yields. The dollar closed lower on Tuesday: Dollar Index -0.59, USDJPY -0.41, EURUSD +0.0134. The visibility of the U.S. debt ceiling spectacle in overseas markets was raised by President Obama's televised address Monday night and his plea for compromise. Foreign investors responded by lightening up on their U.S. investments considering that the U.S. fiscal problems are going to remain on track to disaster even when the debt ceiling hike is over.
• Sep crude oil prices this morning are trading lower by $0.73 a barrel and Sep gasoline is down 0.40 cents per gallon on concerns about economic fallout from the debt ceiling battle. Crude oil and gasoline prices on Tuesday closed moderately higher: CLU11 +0.39, RBU11 +0.0079. Bullish factors included the weak dollar, news that gasoline inventories fell 639,000 barrels in the weekly API report, and technical buying as gasoline broke out to a new 2-1/2 month high. The petroleum market on Tuesday was at least temporarily able to shake off worries about economic damage from the debt ceiling battle. The market consensus for today's weekly DOE report are for a 1.75 million barrel drop in crude oil inventories, a 125,000 barrel increase in gasoline inventories, a 1.6 million barrel increase in distillate inventories, and a 0.3% drop in the operating rate.

Today's U.S. Earnings Reports Earnings reports (confirmed releases, sorted by mkt cap): COP-Connoco-Phillips (BEST earnings consensus $2.21), V-Visa (1.23), BA-Boeing (0.97), DOW-Dow Chemical (0.79), SO-Southern Co (0.64), PX-Praxair (1.37), EXC-Exelon (0.95), GLW-Corning (0.47), WLP-Wellpoint (1.80), GD-Genderal Dynamics (1.72), HES-Hess (1.97), NEE-Nextera Energy (1.08), TMO-Thermo Fisher (0.98), AFL-Aflac (1.54), EQR-Equity Residential (0.08), NOC-Northrup Grumman (1.67), AET-Aetna (1.08).
Global Financial Calendar

Wednesday 7/27/11
United States
0700 ET	Weekly MBA mortgage applications, last market index +15.5% with purchase mortgage sub-index -0.1% and refinancing sub index +23.1%.
0830 ET	Jun durable goods orders expected +0.3% and +0.5% ex transportation, May +2.1% and +0.7% ex transportation.
1300 ET	Treasury auctions $35 billion 5-year T-notes.
1400 ET	Fed?s Beige Book.
Germany
0200 ET	Jun German import prices expected -0.2% m/m and +7.0% y/y, May -0.6% m/m and +8.1% y/y.
n/a	Jul German CPI (EU harmonized) expected +0.3% m/m and +2.4% y/y, Jun unchanged m/m and +2.4% y/y.
Euro-Zone
0400 ET	Jun Euro-Zone M3 money supply expected +2.3% 3-month avg and +2.4% y/y, May +2.2% 3-month avg and +2/4% y/y.
United Kingdom
0600 ET	Jul UK CBI trends total orders expected -4 to -3, Jun +3 to 1.
0600 ET	Jul UK CBI business optimism expected +1 to 10, Jun +2 to 9.
Canada
0900 ET	May Canada Teranet/National Bank HPI, Apr +1.1% m/m and +4.4% y/y.
France
1200 ET	Jun French total jobseekers, May 2,686,800.
Japan
1950 ET	Jun Japan retail trade expected +1.5% m/m and -0.5% y/y, May +2.4% m/m and -1.3% y/y.

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

International Game Technologies - Barchart Chart of the Day

Barchart.coms Chart of the Day - International Game Technology (IGT)

Barchart Research Team - Barchart.com - Wed Jul 27, 5:13PM CDT

Related Stocks

IGT - International Game Technology

Sym	Last	Chg	Pct
IGT	18.80	+0.71	+3.92%

The "Chart of the Day" is International Game Technology (IGT), which showed up on Wednesday's Barchart "NYSE 12-Month High" list. IGT on Wednesday rallied by 3.92% and edged to a new 13-month high. TrendSpotter has been Long on IGT since July 1 at $17.99. In recent news on the stock, IGT on Tuesday reported fiscal Q3 adjusted EPS of 26 cents versus the consensus of 22 cents. Credit Suisse on Wednesday after that positive earnings news reiterated its Outperform rating on IGT and raised its target to $24 from $22. Sterne Agee on July 12 upgraded IGT to Buy from Neutral and raised its target to $23. International Game Technology, with a market cap of $5.5 billion, is one of the largest manufacturers of computerized casino gaming products and operators of proprietary gaming systems in the world and was the first to develop computerized video gaming machines.


How we found the Chart of the Day:
We found the "Chart of the Day" by scanning the Barchart "New Highs/Lows" page. Then we clicked on the entry for NYSE 12-month highs. A new 12-month high is a popular sign of upside momentum. We then clicked on the "12-Month # Highs" column heading twice in order to sort the list in ascending order. Stocks with the fewest number of 12-month highs over the past 12 months are stocks that have only recently broken out to a new 12-month high and may have better upside potential then stocks that have already rallied sharply and have posted many new 12-month highs.
Barchart's Opinion trading systems are all a "Buy" and Barchart's daily TrendSpotter trading system is a "Buy." 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

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Barchart links for further information:

Quotes and Charts
Quote
Detailed Quote
Chart

Technical Analysis
Technicals Summary
Trader's Cheat Sheet™

Barchart Opinions
Barchart Opinion
Barchart Snapshot
Trading Strategies

Company Info
Company Profile
Key Statistics
Ratios
Income Statement-Quarterly
Income Statement-Annual
Balance Sheet-Current
Balance Sheet-Annual

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

Mr. Softy seems to be solid

Modern civilization can't exist without air, food, water, electricity and sewers. Life without Microsoft is unthinkable.  Our world is depended on PC's and PC's have become dependent on Microsoft.  The question is not will Microsoft exist, the question is just how much money they will make.

The chart on Microsoft (MSFT) says it all:

Microsoft Corporation (MFST) develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a range of software products and services for various computing devices worldwide. The company’s Windows & Windows Live Division segment offers Windows operating system, Windows Live, and Internet Explorer. It offers Windows operating system, which include Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP Home, as well as Windows Live suite of applications and Web services. Microsoft’s Server and Tools segment provides Windows Server operating systems, Windows Azure, Microsoft SQL Server, SQL Azure, Visual Studio, Silverlight, System Center products, Biz Talk server, Microsoft consulting services, and product support services. This segment also provides enterprise consulting and product support services; and training and certification to developers and information technology professionals, as well as builds standalone and software development lifecycle tools for software architects, developers, testers, and project managers. The company’s Online Services Division segment offers online information products, such as Bing, MSN portals, and channels; and an online advertising platform for publishers and advertisers. Microsoft’s Microsoft Business Division segment offers Microsoft Office, Microsoft SharePoint, and Microsoft Dynamics ERP and CRM, as well as Microsoft Office Web Apps. The company’s Entertainment and Devices Division segment develops, produces, and markets the Xbox 360 platform; PC software games; online games and services; Mediaroom, an Internet protocol television software; Windows Phone and Windows Embedded device platforms; the Zune digital music and entertainment platform; and application software for Apple’s Macintosh computers, Microsoft PC hardware products, and other devices. This segment also involves in retail and marketing of packaged versions of the Microsoft Office system and the Windows operating systems. Microsoft was founded in 1975 and is headquartered in Redmond, Washington. (Yahoo Finance)

Factors you should consider:

Barchart technical indicators:

• 80% Barchart technical buy signal
• Trend Spotter buy signal
• Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
• 10 new highs and up 9.50% in the last month
• Relative Strength Index 63.95%
• Trades around 27.68 which is above its 50 day moving average of 25.36 

Fundamental factors:

• Most Wall Street brokerage firms consider the stock a core growth holding and the stock has a position in the Dow Jones Industrial 30.
• Wall Street brokerage analyst presently have 12 strong buy, 10 buy, 9 hold and only one negative recommendation on this stock
• Sales are projected to increase by 6.00% this year and another 5.70% next year
• Earnings estimated for this year are a modest increase of 2.60% this year and a better 9.10% next year with a annual increase of 9.93% for the next 5 years
• The P/E ratio of 9.7 is way less than the 27.0 ratio the stock traded in 2006
• The P/E ratio is also almost half of the rest of the market

General investor sentiment:

• The stock is widely followed by the readers of Motley Fool with the 15,136 readers expressing an opinion voting 87% that the stock will bat the market
• The more experienced All Stars voted a more positive 91% for the same result

Summary: Microsoft (MFST) is a core position and deserves to be in every long term portfolio.  The future forecasts is for increases in sales and earnings and if the former P/E ratios are ever reached investors could see a 20.00% annual rate of return including dividends over the next 5 years.

Charts and technical data provided by Barchart

Jim Van Meerten is a Marketocracy Master

Why no sales

Just a word of caution.  I know you haven't seen any major sells in our portfolios lately.  The market has seemed to hit a bottom and has some support.  Please look at the Trend Spotter and 100 day moving average on the Value Line Index.  The Index is an arithmetic index of the 1700 largest stocks and in my opinion is the best stock market indicator for the individual investor.

Don't panic.  Follow the Barchart technical indicators on the stock you own.  Have stop loses in place that are in your comfort zone.  If they trigger sit on the cash.  Sit back and sip a good single malt scotch.  Enjoy life.

Jim Van Meerten is a Marketocracy Master

Barchart Morning Call 7/27

Barchart Morning Call

Barchart.com - 49 mins ago

Overnight Developments

• Global stocks are mostly lower with the European Euro Stoxx down 0.48% and Sep S&Ps down 1.10 points. U.S. stocks continue to be weighed down by the U.S. debt ceiling battle, which was delayed by a day due to the postponed vote in the House on the Boehner debt ceiling hike plan. European banking stocks were undercut by a 3% decline in Santander, Spain's largest bank, on its report that Q2 earnings fell 38% due to higher domestic loan losses and a decline in profits in its three main markets in Spain, UK and Brazil. European debt crisis contagion continues for Spain and Italy where 10-year Spanish yields today rose by 8 bp to 6.04% and with Italian bonds rising 18 bp to 5.81%. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said today that the German government is against a "blank check" for the European Financial Stability Fund to buy bonds on the secondary market. Italian business confidence in July fell by 2 points to 98.5 from 100.5 in June, which was weaker than the consensus for a decline to 99.7.
• The Asian stock markets today closed mixed: Japan -0.50%, Hong Kong -0.13%, China +0.75%, Taiwan +0.26%, Australia -0.78%, Singapore +0.22%, South Korea +0.23%, Bombay -0.46%. Chinese stocks rose 0.75% today after positive earnings news from the industrial sector.

Overnight U.S. Stock News

• September S&Ps this morning are trading slightly lower by 1.10 points as debt ceiling concerns continue. Amazon rallied sharply by about 7% in after-hours trading on Tuesday on the release of stronger-than-expected Q2 EPS and favorable Q3 guidance. The US stock market on Tuesday continued lower as the debt ceiling battle dragged on: Dow Industrials -0.73%, S&P 500 -0.41%, Nasdaq Composite -0.10%. The stock market continued lower due to the outside possibility that the debt ceiling may not be lifted by Tuesday's August 2 deadline. However, the stock market received underlying support from positive Q2 earnings reports and yesterday's 13-tick rally in Sep 10-year T-note prices.

Today's Market Focus

• September 10-year T-notes this morning are up 3.5 ticks on weakness in U.S. and European stocks. T-note prices on Tuesday closed higher as the market became more concerned about the economic fallout from the debt ceiling debacle: TYU11 +13, FVU11 +8.25, EDZ11 +0.005. Tuesday's 2-year T-note auction saw good demand despite paltry yields, suggesting that investors still view Treasury securities as a good safe-haven vehicle despite the best efforts of Congress to convince them otherwise. The 2-year saw a relatively strong bid-cover ratio of 3.22 and decent foreign participation with indirect bidders taking 34.5% of the auction, close to the 12-auction average of 35.1%.
• The dollar index this morning is trading mildly higher by 0.134 with USDJPY down 0.10 yen and EURUSD down 0.42 cents. The dollar this morning is seeing a little short-covering after the sharp sell-off in the past two weeks and is also getting some support on the euro-negative news of rising Spanish and Italian bond yields. The dollar closed lower on Tuesday: Dollar Index -0.59, USDJPY -0.41, EURUSD +0.0134. The visibility of the U.S. debt ceiling spectacle in overseas markets was raised by President Obama's televised address Monday night and his plea for compromise. Foreign investors responded by lightening up on their U.S. investments considering that the U.S. fiscal problems are going to remain on track to disaster even when the debt ceiling hike is over.
• Sep crude oil prices this morning are trading lower by $0.73 a barrel and Sep gasoline is down 0.40 cents per gallon on concerns about economic fallout from the debt ceiling battle. Crude oil and gasoline prices on Tuesday closed moderately higher: CLU11 +0.39, RBU11 +0.0079. Bullish factors included the weak dollar, news that gasoline inventories fell 639,000 barrels in the weekly API report, and technical buying as gasoline broke out to a new 2-1/2 month high. The petroleum market on Tuesday was at least temporarily able to shake off worries about economic damage from the debt ceiling battle. The market consensus for today's weekly DOE report are for a 1.75 million barrel drop in crude oil inventories, a 125,000 barrel increase in gasoline inventories, a 1.6 million barrel increase in distillate inventories, and a 0.3% drop in the operating rate.

Today's U.S. Earnings Reports Earnings reports (confirmed releases, sorted by mkt cap): COP-Connoco-Phillips (BEST earnings consensus $2.21), V-Visa (1.23), BA-Boeing (0.97), DOW-Dow Chemical (0.79), SO-Southern Co (0.64), PX-Praxair (1.37), EXC-Exelon (0.95), GLW-Corning (0.47), WLP-Wellpoint (1.80), GD-Genderal Dynamics (1.72), HES-Hess (1.97), NEE-Nextera Energy (1.08), TMO-Thermo Fisher (0.98), AFL-Aflac (1.54), EQR-Equity Residential (0.08), NOC-Northrup Grumman (1.67), AET-Aetna (1.08).
Global Financial Calendar

Wednesday 7/27/11
United States
0700 ET	Weekly MBA mortgage applications, last market index +15.5% with purchase mortgage sub-index -0.1% and refinancing sub index +23.1%.
0830 ET	Jun durable goods orders expected +0.3% and +0.5% ex transportation, May +2.1% and +0.7% ex transportation.
1300 ET	Treasury auctions $35 billion 5-year T-notes.
1400 ET	Fed?s Beige Book.
Germany
0200 ET	Jun German import prices expected -0.2% m/m and +7.0% y/y, May -0.6% m/m and +8.1% y/y.
n/a	Jul German CPI (EU harmonized) expected +0.3% m/m and +2.4% y/y, Jun unchanged m/m and +2.4% y/y.
Euro-Zone
0400 ET	Jun Euro-Zone M3 money supply expected +2.3% 3-month avg and +2.4% y/y, May +2.2% 3-month avg and +2/4% y/y.
United Kingdom
0600 ET	Jul UK CBI trends total orders expected -4 to -3, Jun +3 to 1.
0600 ET	Jul UK CBI business optimism expected +1 to 10, Jun +2 to 9.
Canada
0900 ET	May Canada Teranet/National Bank HPI, Apr +1.1% m/m and +4.4% y/y.
France
1200 ET	Jun French total jobseekers, May 2,686,800.
Japan
1950 ET	Jun Japan retail trade expected +1.5% m/m and -0.5% y/y, May +2.4% m/m and -1.3% y/y.

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

SAP - Barchart Chart of the Day

Barchart.com's Chart of the Day - SAP (SAP)

Barchart Research Team - Barchart.com - Tue Jul 26, 7:07PM CDT

Related Stocks

SAP - Sap Ag

Sym	Last	Chg	Pct
SAP	64.50	+4.18	+6.93%

The "Chart of the Day" is SAP (SAP), which showed up on Tuesday's Barchart "What's Hot" list. SAP on Tuesday rallied by 2.94 standard deviations (or +6.93%) and posted a new 3-month high. TrendSpotter on Tuesday was stopped out its Short position and went into its required minimum 1-day neutral mode. However, TrendSpotter on Wednesday is likely to issue a Buy signal. In recent news on the stock, SAP on Tuesday reported Q2 non-IFRS EPS of 59 cents versus 58 cents and provided guidance that it expects to reach the high end of 2011 software revenue guidance. SAP, with a market cap of $72 billion, is the world's largest business software company and the world's third-largest independent software provider overall.


How we found the Chart of the Day:
We found the "Chart of the Day" by scanning the Barchart "All Exchanges Daily What's Hot". That list highlights stocks with large price movements in terms of 20-day standard deviations, rather than percentage moves. Ranking stock price movement based on standard deviations rather than percentage changes puts all the stocks on a level playing field and spots stocks with unusually large movements relative to their recent performance, as opposed to percentage changes which tend to include stocks that naturally have high volatility. For further information, please click on the link for "What's Hot" help. Once we were on the What's Hot list, we then applied a "Custom View" heading with the Barchart Opinion ranking as one of the columns. we then sorted the list by the Barchart Opinion ranking in order to find the stocks with the highest Opinion.
Barchart's Opinion trading systems are mixed and Barchart's daily TrendSpotter trading system is a "Hold." 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: Hold
• Short-Term Indicators: 60% Buy
• Medium-Term Indicators: 50% Buy
• Long-Term Indicators: 33% Buy
• Overall Average 48% Buy

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Quote
Detailed Quote
Chart

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Barchart Opinions
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Key Statistics
Ratios
Income Statement-Quarterly
Income Statement-Annual
Balance Sheet-Current
Balance Sheet-Annual

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Chart of the Day Archive
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Whole Foods is tasty

Right now my Wall Street Survivor portfolio is full but each week I still look to see what I'd buy if I had some cash.  I'd advice you not to take others' buy/sell recommendations unless you've studied how that person invests and your investment philosophy meshes with theirs.

I'm 64 years old and have already accumulated a large portfolio.  I want to keep what I've got but still need growth to beat future taxes, inflation and whatever other uncertainties that may be thrown up for me to cope with by either the economy or politicians.

Some of my readers have complained  that my articles are "cookie cutter" but I take that as a complement because I want all my stock to have he same attributes.  I want to know the same information about any potential investment and pass on any that don't meet all my criteria.  They are:

• Sales and earnings growth projections should be for double digit increases
• I need instant gratification so I want to see current positive price momentum
• The stock has to have a wide and positive following by both the professional and individual investing community
• There needs to be enough published information on this company because I invest in established companies by looking at the numbers.
• I do not invest in start-ups that only have ideas and no sales and profits

Let's look at a high growth darling called Whole Foods Market (WFM) and see if it meets my criteria.

Whole Foods Markets (WFM) came to my attention while screening on Barchart because it has a high technical price movement score and has the kind of chart I like to see:

Whole Foods Markets (WFM) according to a recent press release is the largest purveyor of natural foods in the world. They own and operate the country's largest chain of natural food supermarkets. They are like an old-fashioned neighborhood grocery store, an organic farmer's market, a European bakery, a New York deli, and a modern supermarket all rolled into one!

I visited a few of their stores myself and found them to be clean and have the variety  and quality of foods my wife and I enjoy but they may be a little pricey if I was feeding a family of 8.

Let's look at some of the factors I think you should consider:

Barchart technical indicators:

• 88% Barchart overall technical buy signal
• Trend Spotter technical buy signal
• Trading above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
• 11 new highs and up 11.53% in the last month
• Relative Strength Index of 69.08% that is still rising
• Trades around 67.47 which is above its 50 day moving average of 61.01

Fundamental factors:

• Even though this is a grocery stock most of the Wall Street brokerage analysts following the stock consider it a growth stock
• The company currently has 297 locations and wants to eventually have over 1,000 stores
• Analysts have issued 5 strong buy, 6 buy, 11 hold and 2 under perform reports on this stock
• Sales consensus is for an increase of 12.40% this year followed by another 11.70% next year
• Earnings are estimated to increase by 32.80% this year, 13.20% next year and continue by increases of 17.57% annually for at least 5 years out
• My concern is the Price/Earnings ratio of 33.5 which is pretty high for a grocery chain and is about twice the P/E ratio of the overall market

General investor sentiment:

• I like to use Motley Fool as a gauge of what the individual investor is thinking.
• Of the 4,445 readers of Fool who expressed an opinion 87% think the stock will beat the market
• The more experienced All Stars are a little more positive and 93% think it will out perform the market

Summary:  Whole Foods (WFM) is a stock that on the surface appears to have it all current price momentum, double digit growth of both sales and earnings projected and has a wide and positive following from the individual and professional investor.  My big caution is that this is a grocery chain selling at a P/E ratio that is twice the market's.  If I bought it for the current price momentum I'd put a real tight stop loss on this one and monitor that P/E ratio closely.

Jim Van Meerten is a Marketocracy Master

Star Scientific sell signals

This morning on Barchart I detected sell signals on Star Scientific (CIGX).

Barchart technical indicators:

• 80% Barchart short term technical sell signal
• Trend Spotter technical sell signal
• Below its 20 and 50 day moving averages
• 23.18% off its recent high
• Relative Strength Index 42.14% and falling

Jim Van Meerten is a Marketocracy Master

Barchart Morning Call 7/26

Barchart Morning Call

Barchart.com - 38 mins ago

Overnight Developments

• Global stocks are mixed with the European Euro Stoxx down 0.27% and Sep S&Ps up 2.80 points. Last night's speeches to the nation by President Obama and Speaker Boehner did nothing to help the markets since they simply highlighted the political gridlock in Washington and the political posturing. The markets would like to see significant deficit reduction, but at this point the markets simply want to get through a debt ceiling hike without a Treasury default. Several Wall Street analysts are now saying that the Treasury can last a week or two beyond its August 2 drop-dead date because of higher-than-expected tax revenues, although the Treasury has so far made no mention of extending its drop-dead date. India's central bank today raised its repurchase rate by 50 bp to 8.0%, which was larger than the expected 25 bp rate hike and highlighted the upward pressure on short-term rates in the developing world where inflation is a matter of significant concern. India's June wholesale-price inflation rate rose to +9.5%, which is even higher than CPI rates of +6.7% in Brazil, +9.4% in Russia, and +6.4% in China. India's central bank raised its GDP forecast for the fiscal year ending in March 2012 by 1 percentage point to +7.0%. Today's UK Q2 GDP report of +0.2% q/q and +0.7% y/y was in line with market expectations but illustrated the slowdown seen from Q1's +1.5% m/m and +1.6% y/y. The German GfK consumer confidence survey index fell slightly to 5.4 in Aug from a revised 5.5 in July (preliminary 5.7) and was weaker than the market consensus of 5.6. UBS is down 1.7% today after issuing a disappointing earnings report and causing concern about European bank profits in general.
• The Asian stock markets today closed mostly higher, except for India which closed down 1.9% due to the larger-than-expected rate hike: Japan +0.47%, Hong Kong +1.25%, China +0.32%, Taiwan +1.28%, Australia +0.95%, Singapore +0.47%, South Korea +0.85%.

Overnight U.S. Stock News

• September S&Ps this morning are trading slightly higher by 2.80 points (+0.21%) as the market hopes for some compromise after last night's dueling Obama/Boehner speeches. Ford's Q2 EPS ex-items report of 65 cents was stronger than the consensus of 61 cents. The US stock market on Monday opened sharply lower on the debt ceiling stalemate but then recovered some ground to close just moderately lower: Dow Industrials -0.70%, S&P 500 -0.56%, Nasdaq Composite -0.56%. Stocks were also hurt by Moody's 3-notch cut in Greece's credit rating, although the rating agency was simply catching up with its competitors and with what the markets already knew following last Thursday's Eurozone debt deal, i.e., that Greece will be effectively defaulting on its securities with a 21% haircut on the Greek bond swap deal offered by the Eurozone. US stocks were also hurt by Monday's sharp 3% sell-off in Chinese stocks tied to a weekend high-speed train crash that caused the government to call for a review of transportation safety and could slow investment in transportation projects.

Today's Market Focus

• September 10-year T-notes this morning are down 4 ticks on reduced safe-haven demand as Asian stocks rebounded higher today and Sep S&Ps are trading higher. T-note prices on Monday closed mildly lower due concern that the debt ceiling stalemate will cause a U.S. credit rating cut even if Washington raises the debt ceiling: TYU11 -6.5, FVU11 -2.5, EDZ11 -2.0. Pimco CEO Mohamed A. El-Erian said that the U.S. government will be ?extremely vulnerable? to losing its AAA credit rating even if Washington produces a debt ceiling hike. He said, Stock markets around the globe will look to price in a greater uncertainty premium on account of political squabbles in the world?s largest economy and the increasing risk that it may lose its sacred AAA rating.?
• The dollar index this morning is trading moderately lower by 0.46 points with USDJPY down 0.21 yen and EURUSD up 1.0 cent as concern continues about the U.S. debt ceiling battle. The dollar index on Monday closed slightly lower: Dollar Index -0.099, USDJPY -0.250, EURUSD +0.0017. The main bearish factor for the dollar was the debt ceiling spectacle in Washington, which is giving pause to overseas investors about investing in a country with such an unstable political and fiscal environment. The euro continued to see general support from last Thursday's Eurozone deal for a second Greek bailout and strengthening of the European Financial Stability Fund. The Swiss franc on Monday hit a record high due to safe-haven demand and carry-over from record gold prices.
• Sep crude oil prices this morning are trading up $0.53 a barrel and Sep gasoline is up 0.95 cents per gallon as the market shakes off concerns about the U.S. debt ceiling and focuses on tighter product inventories and generally strong global fuel demand. Crude oil and gasoline prices closed lower on Monday due to concerns about economic fallout and weaker fuel demand from the Washington debt ceiling battle: CLU11 -0.67, RBU11 -0.0089. The market consensus for Wednesday's DOE report are for a 1.75 million barrel drop in crude oil inventories, a 125,000 barrel increase in gasoline inventories, and a 1.6 million barrel increase in distillate inventories.

Today's U.S. Earnings Reports Earnings reports (confirmed releases, sorted by mkt cap): AMZN-Amazon.com (BEST earnings consensus $0.63), OXY-Occidental (2.17), UPS-UPS (1.04), MMM-EM (1.59), F-Ford (0.61), SPG-Simon Property (0.61), NOV-National Oilwell Varco (1.01), LVS-Las Vegas Sands (0.44), GILD-Gilead Sciences (0.99), ITW-Illinois Tool (1.02), LMT-Lockheed Martin (1.94), NSC-Norfolk Southern (1.29), COV-Covidien (0.95), BIIB-Biogen Idec (1.37), ACE-ACE Ltd (1.65), CMI-Cummins (2.02), PCAR-Paccar (0.69), JNPR-Juniper Networks (0.33), TROW-T Rowe Price (0.77), VLO-Valero (1.45).
Global Financial Calendar

Tuesday 7/26/11
United States
0745 ET	ICSC (Int?l Council of Shopping Centers) weekly retailer sales.
0855 ET	Redbook weekly retailer sales.
0900 ET	May S&P/CaseShiller composite-20 home price index expected unchanged m/m and -4.6% y/y, Apr -0.1% m/m and -4.0% y/y.
1000 ET	Jul consumer confidence expected -2.5 to 56.0, Jun -3.2 to 58.5.
1000 ET	Jul Richmond Fed manufacturing index expected +2 to 5, Jun +9 to 3.
1000 ET	Jun new home sales expected +0.8% to 322,000, May -2.1% to 319,000.
1130 ET	Weekly 4-week T-bill auction.
1300 ET	Treasury auctions $35 billion 2-year T-notes.
Germany
0200 ET	Aug German GfK consumer confidence survey expected -0.1 to 5.6, Jul +0.1 to 5.7.
France
0245 ET	Jul French consumer confidence indicator expected -1 to 82, Jun unchanged at 83.
United Kingdom
0430 ET	UK Q2 GDP expected +0.2% q/q and +0.8% y/y, Q1 +0.5% q/q and +1.6% y/y.
0430 ET	May UK index of services expected +0.8% m/m and +0.9% 3-mo/3-mo, Apr -1.2% m/m and +0.9% 3-mo/3-mo.
CHI
2200 ET	Jun China industrial profits, May +27.9% year-to-date y/y.

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

Monsanto - Barchart Chart of the Day

Barchart.com's Chart of the Day - Monsanto (MON)

Barchart Research Team - Barchart.com - Mon Jul 25, 4:47PM CDT

Related Stocks

MON - Monsanto Company

Sym	Last	Chg	Pct
MON	76.42	+1.01	+1.34%

The "Chart of the Day" is Monsanto (MON), which showed up on Monday's Barchart "NYSE 12-Month High" list. Monsanto on Monday posted an outside-day-up with a 1-1/2 year high and closed up 1.34%. TrendSpotter has been Long on Monsanto since June 29 at $70.21. In recent news on the stock, Goldman last Wednesday upgraded Monsanto to a Conviction Buy with a target of $96. Monsanto, with a market cap of $40 billion, sells herbicides, seeds and related genetic trait products that provide growers with integrated solutions to more efficiently and cost effectively produce crops at higher yields.


How we found the Chart of the Day:
We found the "Chart of the Day" by scanning the Barchart "New Highs/Lows" page. Then we clicked on the entry for NYSE 12-month highs. A new 12-month high is a popular sign of upside momentum. We then clicked on the "12-Month # Highs" column heading twice in order to sort the list in ascending order. Stocks with the fewest number of 12-month highs over the past 12 months are stocks that have only recently broken out to a new 12-month high and may have better upside potential then stocks that have already rallied sharply and have posted many new 12-month highs.
Barchart's Opinion trading systems are mostly a Buy and Barchart's daily TrendSpotter trading system is a "Buy." 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: 50% Buy
• Long-Term Indicators: 100% Buy
• Overall Average 80% Buy

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Barchart links for further information:

Quotes and Charts
Quote
Detailed Quote
Chart

Technical Analysis
Technicals Summary
Trader's Cheat Sheet™

Barchart Opinions
Barchart Opinion
Barchart Snapshot
Trading Strategies

Company Info
Company Profile
Key Statistics
Ratios
Income Statement-Quarterly
Income Statement-Annual
Balance Sheet-Current
Balance Sheet-Annual

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

Sprint Nextel - sell signals

This morning on Barchart I detected sell signals on Sprint Nextel (S).

Barchart technical indicators:

• 80% Barchart short term sell signals
• Trend Spotter sell signal
• Below its 20 and 50 day moving averages
• 20.16% off its recent high
• Relative Strength Index is 41.93% and falling
• 
  

Health Management Assoiciates sell signals

This morning on Barchart I detected sell signals on popular Health Management Associates (HMA).

Barchart technical indicators:

• 100% Barchart technical sell signal
• Trend Spotter sell signal
• Below its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
• 17.21% off its recent high
• Relative Strength Index 32.94% and falling

Quest Diagnostics - sell signals

This morning there were sell signals on Barchart for Quest Diagnostics (DGX) so I deleted it from the Barchart Van Meerten New High Portfolio.  for negative price performance.

Barchart technical indicators:

• 60% Barchart short term sell signal
• Trend Spotter sell signal
• Below its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
• 7.84% off its recent high
• Relative Strength Index 33.09% and falling

Barchart Morning Call - 7/25

Barchart Morning Call

Barchart.com - 2 hrs 36 mins ago

Overnight Developments

• Global stocks are trading mildly lower with the European Euro Stoxx down 0.18% and Sep S&Ps down 9.20 points (-0.69%). The main bearish factor is uncertainty about the U.S. debt ceiling battle. Republicans and Democrats spent the weekend bickering about a debt ceiling hike and the odds are rising for a U.S. debt rating cut in coming weeks even if there is a debt ceiling hike. House Speaker Boehner is pushing a short-term $1 trillion debt ceiling hike that will only take the government through about the end of this year, whereas Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is pushing a $2.4 trillion debt ceiling hike tied to $2.7 trillion of spending cuts that would last through the November 2012 presidential and Congressional elections. President Obama has said he would veto any debt ceiling hike that does not last through 2012. Meanwhile on the European debt crisis front, Moody's today cut Greece's credit rating by three notches to Ca, its second lowest rating, from Caa1. A Moody's senior analyst said, "The combination of the announced EU program and the debt exchange proposal by major financial institutions imply that private creditors experience substantial losses on their holding of Greek government bonds and this is something we need to reflect in the rating." Moody's action was not a surprise considering that S&P on June 13 had already cut Greece's rating to its lowest level of CCC. Fitch also has Greece at its lowest rating. Fitch and S&P have already indicated that they will cut Greece's rating to default when the bond swap program arrives, but will then reinstall a normal rating shortly after the bond swap program is over. Italy's July consumer confidence index today fell by 2.1 points to 103.7 from 105.8 in June and was weaker than market expectations for a decline to 104.5.
• The Asian stock markets today closed lower with a particularly sharp loss of 3.25% in China: Japan -0.81%, Hong Kong -0.68%, Taiwan -0.93%, Australia -1.58%, Singapore -0.36%, South Korea -1.04%, Bombay +0.80%.

Overnight U.S. Stock News

• September S&Ps this morning are trading 9.20 points lower on the lack of a debt ceiling hike agreement as yet. The US stock market last Friday settled mixed as the Nasdaq posted a 10-1/3 year high after technology stocks rallied while uncertainty over a budget deal by US lawmakers kept the broader market under pressure: Dow Jones -0.34%, S&P 500 +0.09%, Nasdaq Composite +0.86%. Bullish factors included (1) carry-over support from a rally in European stocks on reduced European sovereign debt concerns as credit-default swaps (CDS) to insure the government debts of most Euro-Zone nations plunged, with Greek CDS tumbling to a 5-week low, (2) strength in technology companies which sent the Nasdaq to a 10-1/3 year high after Advanced Micro Devices reported better-than-forecast earnings, and (3) overall healthy Q2 earnings results thus far as 83% of the 121 S&P 500 companies that have reported earnings since Jul 11 beating estimates.
• Bearish factors included (1) weakness in industrial companies after Caterpillar reported earnings that trailed estimates, (2) uncertainty over a budget deal and the raising of the US debt limit before the Aug 2 deadline, and (3) the statement from Standard & Poor's that even if Congress raises the debt limit in time to avert a default, it might cut the US sovereign rating to AA+ with a negative outlook if a deal isn't accompanied by a "credible solution" on the future debt burden.

Today's Market Focus

• September 10-year T-notes this morning are trading slightly lower by 2.5 ticks. T-note prices today were undercut by the U.S. debt ceiling gridlock and the comment by Pimpco CEO and co-chief investment officer Mohamed A. El-Erian said that the U.S. will be "extremely vulnerable" to losing its AAA rating even if there is a debt ceiling increase. T-note prices last Friday moved higher on optimism US lawmakers are getting closer on a deal to raise the US debt limit along with increased safe-haven demand after Fitch Ratings said that Greece faces a restricted default: TYU11 +10.5, FVU11 +5.7, EDZ11 +1.0. Bullish factors included (1) optimism that Congress is getting closer to an agreement to cut the US budget deficit and raise the borrowing limit, (2) the statement from Fitch Ratings that Greece faces a "restricted default" after Euro-Zone leaders agreed on a new bailout for Greece that would involve contributions from bondholders, and (3) the action by the Fed to purchase $869 million of Treasuries as it invests the principal payments from its debt holdings into Treasuries to help spur the economy. Bearish factors included (1) reduced safe-haven demand for Treasuries after credit-default swaps to insure the government debts of most Euro-Zone nations plunged after European officials agreed to a $229 billion bailout to contain the debt crisis and (2) the statement from Standard & Poor's that even if Congress raises the debt limit in time to avert a default, it might cut the US sovereign rating to AA+ with a negative outlook if a deal isn't accompanied by a "credible solution" on the future debt burden.
• The dollar index this morning is trading slightly lower by 0.094 cents with the dollar/yen down 0.26 yen and the euro/dollar up 0.12 cents. The Swiss franc is up 2% today due to flight-to-safety demand. The dollar index last Friday settled higher after the euro weakened when Fitch Ratings said Greece faces "restricted default" and after Jul German IFO business climate fell to a 9-month low: Dollar Index +0.186, USDJPY +0.235, EURUSD -0.00669. Bullish factors included (1) the statement from Fitch Ratings that Greece faces a "restricted default" after Euro-Zone leaders agreed on a new bailout for Greece that would involve contributions from bondholders, (2) the larger-than-expected decline in the Jul German IFO business climate which fell to a 9-month low, and (3) the larger-than-expected decline in Jul French business confidence which fell to a 7-month low and is euro negative. Bearish factors included (1) reduced safe-haven demand for the dollar after credit-default swaps to insure the government debts of most Euro-Zone nations plunged after European leaders agreed to a $229 billion bailout to contain the debt crisis and (2) the larger-than-expected increase in May Euro-Zone industrial new orders, which signals economic strength in Europe and is euro positive.
• Sep crude oil prices this morning are down $0.96 a barrel and Sep gasoline is down 2.88 cents per gallon. Sep crude oil and gasoline prices last Friday closed higher on optimism that US lawmakers will increase the debt ceiling along with the action by European officials to put forth a plan to resolve the region's debt crisis : CLU11 +$0.74, RBU11 +3.39. Bullish factors included (1) reduced concern the European sovereign-debt crisis will drag down the global economy and energy demand after European leaders agreed to a $229 billion bailout to contain the region's debt crisis, (2) optimism that US lawmakers will agree to a deal to raise the nation's debt limit before the Aug 2 deadline, and (3) data from the API that showed total Jun deliveries of petroleum products, a measure of demand, rose +2.9% y/y to 22.2 million barrels a day. Bearish factors included (1) the stronger dollar, which may limit investment demand for commodities and (2) the larger-than-expected decline in the Jul German IFO business climate which fell to a 9-month low, which signals pessimism that may lead to reduced investment spending and energy demand.

Today's U.S. Earnings Reports Earnings reports (confirmed releases, sorted by mkt cap): BIDU-Baidu Inc. (BEST earnings consensus $0.67), APC-Anadarko Petroleum (0.94), TXN-Texas Instruments (0.59), BHI-Baker Hughes (0.91), KMB-Kimberly-Clark (1.14), BRCM-Broadcom (0.63), HCA-HCA Holdings (0.59), ETN-Eaton (0.95), LO-Lorillard (2.02), NFLX-Netflix (1.23), FTI-FMC Technologies (0.38), RRC-Range Resources (0.18), CNH-CNH Global NV (0.99), ROP-Roper Industries (0.99), PCL-Plum Creek Timber (0.29), JRC-Jacobs Engineerig Group (0.70).
Global Financial Calendar

Monday 7/25/11
United States
0830 ET	Jun Chicago Fed national activity index, May +0.19 to -0.37.
1130 ET	Weekly 3-mo and 6-mo and monthly 1-year T-bill auctions.
France
0245 ET	Jul French business confidence quarterly survey of overall demand the past 3 months, Apr -8 to 21.
United Kingdom
0430 ET	Jun UK BBA loans approved for house purchases expected 31,000, May 30,509.
Japan
1950 ET	Jun Japan corporate service price index expected -0.9% y/y, May -0.9% y/y.

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