Insiders Have Been Active–Here’s What They’re Doing

Stocks are lower on higher
oil, a weaker dollar and mixed economic data.

Q3 GDP was 3.9%, up from an estimated 3.7%. This
is the sixth straight quarter in which GDP has expanded at a rate over 3%. Consumer confidence for November for fell
unexpectedly to 90.5 vs. a 96.0 consensus; it was the fourth consecutive monthly
drop. The Chicago PMI was 65.2 November vs 68.5 in October; it was the 19th
straight month of pickup in business activity.

The weak dollar has been the topic of
conversation among traders a lot recently, especially the benefits to various
technology companies. Consider this, however: companies that have plants
overseas must pay many expenses in local currencies, which can negatively impact
the bottom line.

According to Thompson Financial, over the past
three months, insider sellers outweighed buyers by a 68:1 ratio. Among the big
sellers are: Bill Gates (MSFT), Larry Ellison (ORCL) and Terry Semel (YHOO).
Buyers include Neville Isdell (KO)  Henry Luken (CVST) and Charles
Koppelman (MSO). 

Taser’s
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stock split 2:1 today,
making it more attractive to retail investors.

Dow -5.84 10470.06
S&P 500 -0.60 1177.97
Nasdaq -0.48 2106.39

Strong sectors are: Internet
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+0.76%,
Healthcare Providers

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+0.71%, Insurance
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+0.49%.

Weak are: Gold
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-2.79%,Retail
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-1.34%, Brokers
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-0.87%,

The dollar is +0.07 at 82.

Gold is -2.10 to 449.80

Crude Oil is -0.16 at 49.60

ce=”Arial” size=”2″ face=”Arial”>Volume is 650 million on the NYSE and
909 million on the Nasdaq.

Market breadth is negative.

NYSE Issues
Advancing 1368 Up Vol 243
Declining 1809 Down Vol 338
Ratio 1.32 1.39
Nasdaq
Advancing 1331 Up Vol 439
Declining 1629 Down Vol 399
Ratio 1.22 1.10

Stocks in the News.

Google
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will buy back 23 million shares it may have
improperly issued to employees and consultants.

Hot Topic
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posted 8% lower same store sales and guided lower.

Viisage
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will provide face recognition technology to
Pakistan’s passport program; 40 million images are projected.

Red Hat
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was upgraded at Prudential to overweight.

Allergan
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said it was working
with authorities after 2 people came down with botulism, possibly from a botox
injection.

Sybase
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will partner with IBM to market Linux database
software.ek

Brice Wightman