Monday Morning Coffee with TradingMarkets

Good Morning!

Mars, Buffett Near $22B Wrigley Deal... Verizon Profit Up 10%... PetroChina Income Plunges... Kerkorian Looks to Increase Ford Stake... Humana Beats Lowered Estimates... Profit Drops at RadioShack, CNA Financial... Tyson Foods Swings to Loss.

Asian stocks up... European stocks up... Dollar mixed... And the futures are pointing to a slightly higher open.

Would you like to improve your trading? TradingMarkets would like to invite you to a private 30-minute conference call with TradingMarkets CEO and Founder Larry Connors on Monday April 28, 2008 at 1:00 pm ET.

Larry will discuss the upcoming new TradingMarkets Swing Trading College (STC). STC is a 14-session, online course which will provide you with the latest trading research and strategies to professionally swing trade stocks, options, ETFs, E-minis, and futures. Click here to sign-up.

TradingMarkets 5 Business Stories You Need to Know

Mars, Buffett Near Wrigley Deal - Wall Street Journal
Mars and Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway were near a pact for Wrigley for more than $22 billion in a deal that would unite two icons of the U.S. candy business and change the global confectionery landscape.

PetroChina's Net Income Falls 32% on Fuel-Price Curbs - Bloomberg
PetroChina, the nation's biggest oil producer, said first-quarter profit fell 32 percent as losses at its refineries and a tax on oil sales eroded earnings from record crude prices.

Verizon Profit Up 10% on Wireless, Data - MarketWatch
Verizon Communications posted a 10% increase in first-quarter profit as the carrier added 1.5 million wireless customers and more than 250,000 video subscribers.

Kerkorian Bids to Boost Ford Stake - CNN Money
Looking to control more than 5% of automaker, financier offers to buy 20 million shares for $170 million, and says he already owns 100 million shares.

The Real Threat to Google - BusinessWeek
As more consumers browse the Web on their cell phones, the No. 1 search engine must cope with less space to place ads.

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:

• American Express (AXP | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) rose nearly 6% after reporting earnings that beat expectations by $0.03 and reaffirming guidance.
  
  
• Microsoft (MSFT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) fell more than 6% despite beating estimates by $0.03 and issuing guidance above consensus.
  
  
• Shares of Baidu.com (BIDU | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) jumped more than 6% after the company reported earnings that were in-line with estimates.
  
  
• LM Ericsson (ERIC | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) surged 13.5% after reporting first quarter revenues rose, and income fell less-than-expected.
  
  
• Before the market open on Monday, Humana (HUM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) reported earnings of $0.47, beating recently lowered forecasts by $0.02.
  
  
• Loews Corp. (LTR | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) missed estimates by $0.25.
  
  
• And, earnings at Verizon (VZ | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) were in-line with the consensus estimate.
  

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

TradingMarkets 5 PowerRatings Stocks for Today

TradingMarkets Tracking the Wizards

CNBC's Fast Money Man: Peter Najarian on Options, Part 2 - TradingMarkets
In Part 2 of our conversation with Pete Najarian we will look more closely at some of his more recent trades, some of his nuts and bolts ideas about entering and exiting options trades, as well as what it is that he loves most about being an options trader.

Concerned About Trading Inconsistency? Then Read This! - TradingMarkets
When it comes to trading, if you want to succeed, you need to consistently trade stocks that have large historical edges. And you need to exit them at optimal levels.

Free Report! The Only 3 Options Trading Strategies You'll Ever Need - TradingMarkets
There may be as many ways to trade the market as there are traders who want to do so. But the difference between the professionals and the amateurs when it comes to trading is that the majority of professional traders know that the edge lies in buying markets when they are weak and selling them when they are strong.

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