| Good Morning! |
Markets Correct After Three-Day Rally...Priceline Up Big After Hours...Bernanke
Predicts "Sluggish Growth" in 2008...Lampert Cuts Citi Stake...Goldman
Downgrades Intel, Upgrades Truckers...Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Ups Kraft
Stake...Spitzer: Bond Insurers Risking Loss of AAA Rating...Options Trading in
UnitedHealth in Advance of NY Lawsuit Draws Suspicions ...
Asian stocks down...European stocks down...Greenbacks moving lower against the
Euro, yen...And the futures are trending lower in the hour before the bell ...
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| TradingMarkets 5 Business Stories You Need to Know |
Options Trading in UnitedHealth Raises Eyebrows -
Reuters
Timely options bets against UnitedHealth Group--perhaps too timely--made
enormous single-day profits for traders. But more and more observers are
wondering if word that New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo was considering a
lawsuit against the company was leaked in advance.
Greenspan: U.S. "On Edge" of Recession -
Bloomberg
Does the former Fed chairman's stamp of approval on recession fears make an
economic slowdown more or less likely? Greenspan, who supported adjustable rate
mortgages when interest rates were at historic lows, says that falling housing
prices have had and will continue to have a major impact on consumer spending.
Slow Growth Concerns Smack Dollar - Daily FX
Chief currency strategiest for DailyFX Kathy Lien discusses the impact of
yesterday's Senate testimony by Fed chairman Bernanke on the dollar, which was
lower against both the Euro and the yen on concerns over economic growth in the
U.S.
Best Buy Lowers Forecast - Bloomberg
Fearing that fourth quarter revenues will fall short of expectations, Best Buy
trimmed its earnings forecast for the full-year by $0.05 per share. Shares were
hit hard by sellers after the announcment. Based on its PowerRating, Best Buy
may be just an average opportunity for investors right now. But it remains the
best option in an industry group with an impressive PowerRating. Find out which
stock in the group is truly the one to avoid at PowerRatings.net.
Spitzer: Time Running Out on Bond Insurers - Wall Street Journal
Former attorney general and now governor of New York says bond insurers have
three to five day to raise capital or risk losing their AAA credit ratings.
For more stories as they happen, go to our Breaking News section.
| TradingMarkets 7 Stocks You Need to Know for Today |
Here are 7 stocks for traders for today from TradingMarkets.com:
Hittite Microwave (HITT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) missed earnings expectations on
Thursday, reporting $0.43 EPS versus a consensus of $0.44 EPS.
Bright Horizons (BFAM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) beat earnings on Thursday, with $0.44
EPS over an expected $0.43 EPS.
Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) beat earnings expectations on
Friday, with $2.40 EPS.
Barnes Group (B | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) missed expectations on Friday by a penny.
J.M. Smucker (SJM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) beat earnings by a penny on Friday morning.
For a list of today's highest PowerRating stocks, click here.
| TradingMarkets 5 Top PowerRatings Stocks for Today |
Company |
Symbol | PowerRatings |
| Lifecore Biomedical | LCBM | 10 |
| THQ Inc | THQI | 8 |
| NeuroMetrix | NURO | 8 |
| DynCorp International | DCP | 8 |
| Astoria Financial | AF | 8 |
| View More Stocks |
| TradingMarkets Tracking the Wizards |
Morningstar to
Rate Hedge Funds - FINalternatives
Famous mutual fund ratings will soon be applied to hedge funds, giving hedge
fund investors the chance to make easy comparisons between funds based on
Morningstar's familiar 5-star system. Hedge funds will be divided into 17
different categories including equity, event-driven, debt, arbitrate and
multi-strategy. Funds of funds will not be among those funds rated by the new
service.
Berkshire Takes Big Stake in Kraft -
Bloomberg
The second largest food company in the world now has as its largest shareholder
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway. According to regulatory filings, Berkshire
Hathaway now owns more than 8% of Kraft.
Sold Short and Striking Back - NY
Times
Heavily shorted MBIA turns to Congress to help fight off aggressive
short-selling from hedge funds such as those run by William Ackman, whose
Pershing Square Capital Management has bet heavily against bond insurers like
MBIA.
View Portfolios of Prominent Investors
| TradingMarkets Playbook |
The correction we had been warning traders about for the past few days arrived yesterday, to the tune of a 175 point haircut in the Dow.
While this correction does not negate three consecutive advancing days, it will be worth watching to determine how vulnerable the market is to panic in the wake of yesterday's selling. From a short-term trader's perspective, however, there are still a number of dramatically overbought stocks that are up big in a short period of time. The weak stocks among them should be the foremost targets for traders in the near-term looking to place wagers against stocks.
David Penn is Senior Editor at TradingMarkets.com.
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