Here’s A Trend Worth Watching…

Stocks are flat after giving up early gains.
Equities were giving up early gains after the weekly oil report.  The S&P
500 briefly took out last Friday’s highs but is now reversing course.

Germany, France and the U.K. are all at 3-year highs and the global bond
rally continues.

Crude inventories fell -1.6 million barrels; gasoline stocks rose 200K
barrels; distillates saw a build of 1.3 million barrels. All were in-line.

Pimco’s Bill Gross says the Fed may start cutting rates again. At an
investment conference yesterday, Mr. Gross said he expects rates to fall by
year-end.

By 2025, 25% of the Fortune 500 could be owned by Chinese investors,
according to David Hall of Chatham House. Chinese acquisitions rose to $3
billion last year, says Thomson Financial, more than the previous 4 years
combined. Just yesterday, a Chinese-led investment group bid $1.3 billion for
Maytag and another group is considering a $20 billion offer for Unocal. $650
billion: that’s Harvard  economist Kenneth Rogoss’s estimate of the Chinese
investment in the U.S. One-third of that is invested in Treasuries, he says,
making the Chinese the second largest foreign holder of U.S. government
securities after Japan.

Morgan Stanley
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PowerRating) reported 0.86 vs. a 0.92 estimate; the figures
include a $140 million legal charge. Revenues beat estimates but fell 9% to $6 billion.

Ford
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workforce) North American white collar jobs.

Ameritrade
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The deal is estimated to be worth $3 billion. Ameritrade CEO Joe Moglia will run
the combined company.

Strong sectors are:   
Broker Dealers
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PowerRating) +0.50%      Banks  
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+0.45%      Healthcare
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Weak sectors are:  Gold Bugs
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-1.24%     Gold & Silver
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-0.93%     Biotechs
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Gtech
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Eyetech
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FMC Corp.
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