Friday Morning Coffee with TradingMarkets

Good Morning!

S&P Says End is Near for Sub-prime Write-downs... Microsoft and Yahoo Discuss Merger... Subprime Losses for Insurers Surpass Katrina, Industry's Worst Disaster... Automakers Move to Cut Costs... Chrysler to Shut Entire Company for Two Weeks in July... Liberty and IAC in Settlement Talks... Gold Hits $1000... Libor Rate Soars, Central Bank Efforts Not Working... Consumer Prices Unchanged... Treasuries Rise as Inflation Worries Ease.

Asian stocks lower... European stocks up... Dollar falls to record low versus euro, 12-year low versus yen... And the futures are moving up following the CPI report.

Take the TradingMarkets Path to Professional Trading - Level 1 course and immediately improve your trading. It's free! Start here.

TradingMarkets 5 Business Stories You Need to Know

S&P's Grim Subprime Report - Wall Street Journal
S&P estimates that subprime write-downs could reach $285 billion, $20 billion above a prior forecast.

Microsoft, Yahoo Meet to Talk Merger - MarketWatch
Microsoft and Yahoo! executives met to talk about a potential deal for the first time since Microsoft's unsolicited takeover bid.

White House Offers Plan to Ward Off Credit Crises - NY Times
The Bush administration responded to the credit crisis on Thursday, outlining a plan that officials emphasized is meant more to prevent future crises than to address the current one.

Dollar Trades at Record Low Versus Euro as Credit Losses Mount - Bloomberg
The dollar traded at a record low against the euro and close to the weakest level in 12 years versus the yen on concern that widening losses in credit markets may further crimp economic growth in the U.S.

Gold Prices Hit $1,000 Milestone - CNN Money
Precious metal hits key level on fears about economy and further weakness in the dollar.

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:

• The Wall Street Journal reported Bear Stearns (BSC | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) is "facing increasingly tough trading conditions." BSC was the biggest decliner in the S&P 500, falling nearly 8%.
  

• Aspect Medical Systems (ASPM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) plunged more than 45% after a report in the New England Journal of Medicine said the company devices were ineffective.
  

• Humana (HUM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) gained more than 10%, after losing nearly 14% yesterday.
  

• After the close on Thursday, Aeropostale (ARO | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) beat earnings estimates by $0.05.
  

• Before the market open on Friday, AnnTaylor Stores (ANN | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) missed earnings estimates by $0.01 and lowered guidance.
  

• Electronic Arts went hostile in its takeover bid for Take Two Interactive Software (TTWO | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating), offering shareholders $26 per share.
  

• Do you think Electronic Arts (ERTS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) will close up or down on Monday? Play TradingMarkets Up or Down Daily Stock Contest for the chance to win $1000 every month by predicting the direction of a stock.

For a list of today's highest PowerRating stocks, click here.

TradingMarkets 5 Top PowerRatings Stocks for Today

TradingMarkets Tracking the Wizards

Identify Reversals and Breakouts withTime Windows - TradingMarkets
This article will not only demonstrate market precision, but show you how these time windows act as leading indicators so you can anticipate market turns ahead of the crowd.

Stock Spotlight: Kimberly Clark (KMB) - PowerRatings
Kimberly Clark is one of the highest Long Term PowerRatings stocks in the Personal Products industry.

Do Big Gaps Mean Big Trouble for Stocks? - TradingMarkets
Everyone who owns a stock lives for the moment when they wake up and find out that there stock has opened a point or two (or several) beyond the previous day's close.

Click here to sign up for the Morning Coffee with TradingMarkets newsletter.