Friday Morning Coffee with TradingMarkets

  • March 7, 2008
  • David Penn

Good Morning!

National Semi Beats Earnings… Ambac Gets $1.5 M Cash Infusion… Dollar Hits Three-Year Low Against Yen… AFLAC to Vote on CEO Compensation… Treasuries Rally… Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Raise Loan Limits… Fed Governor Fisher Warns Traders Not to Rely on Rate Cut Pace… Nonfarm Payrolls Due Today, Unemployment Rate Expected Higher… Municipal Bond Yields Attract Buyers… Oil Surges Toward $106.

Asian stocks down… European stocks down… Greenbacks moving lower against the Euro, yen… And the futures are trending higher in the hour before the bell.

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TradingMarkets 5 Business Stories You Need to Know

National Semiconductor Beats Estimates – Bloomberg

Apple’s iPhone has been very, very good to National Semiconductor, which beat analyst estimates for the third quarter. Shares of the stock were higher by as much as 10% after the bell. National Semiconductor upcoming earnings announcement was the top entry in our list of 5 Business Stories You Need to Know in yesterday’s Morning Coffee with TradingMarkets.

WaMu Faces S&P Downgrade – MarketWatch

Standard & Poor’s downgraded Washington Mutual’s credit rating on Thursday amid predictions of larger losses to come by Bear Stearns analysts and a weakening stock price.

Is the Euro Setting Up a Blow Off Top? – DailyFX

Technical currency strategist for DailyFX, Jamie Saettele uses a variety of methods–from Fibonacci extensions to wave counts–to suggest that the Euro still has room to run to the upside.

Ciena Earnings Report – Portfolio.com

Shares of Ciena pullback in advance of Friday earnings report. The company is pursuing a significant contract with telecommunications leader, Verizon.

Jobs Number to Reflect Employer Caution – MarketWatch

Softness in both manufacturing and services continues as two-thirds of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s districts reported slowing economic growth in the first few months of the year. Tightened credit availability was also reported in most of the regions surveyed.

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:

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

TradingMarkets 5 Top PowerRatings Stocks for Today

Company
 Symbol PowerRatings
Precison Drilling Trust PDS 9
Photon Dynamics PHTN 9
TierOne TONE 8
W&T Offshore WTI 8
Wachovia WB 8

» View More Stocks

TradingMarkets Tracking the Wizards

Hedge Funds Rally in February – FINalternatives

Merger arbitrage and equity long/short were the best performing strategies for hedge funds in the month of February. But event driven and equity market neutral strategies were also positive in the second month of the year.

How to Fade False Breakouts – TradingMarkets

Forex trader and author Ed Ponsi gives traders a primer on betting against low volume breakouts, which Ponsi suggests are often a tell for a breakout that will not last. Even though specific volume data in forex is difficult to come by, Ponsi shows how traders can use the clock to let them know when volume is likely to be higher or lower in the 24-hour forex markets.

Up or Down? TradingMarkets New Trading Contest – TradingMarkets

We pick the stock. You pick the direction. Sign up today for TradingMarkets new stock market contest and compete for $13,000 in cash prizes. Registration is free and you can start playing today.

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TradingMarkets Playbook

Yesterday’s sell-off looks to be the first stages of a serious test of the year to date lows. As such, we have noticed that the number of high Short Term PowerRatings stocks has increased significantly, suggesting that the pullback thus far has created a number of opportunities for buyers of weakness. Sticking with those stocks that are above their 200-day moving averages is critical for long-side buyers. The markets remain significantly under pressure, but this pressure should help drive stocks down to levels where their prices are more attractive than they were a few weeks ago.

David Penn is Senior Editor at TradingMarkets.com.

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