Morning Coffee with TradingMarkets

  • December 10, 2007
  • David Penn

Good Morning!

Citigroup Inches Toward CEO Pick…China Raises Bank Reserves…CompUSA Crumbles…Apple’s Anticipated 08 Surge…UBS Writes Off $10 Billion…Asian Stocks Down, Europe…Euro, Pound Gain on the Dollar Overnight…Futures are trending higher in the hour before the bell

If you hear nothing else today, then you will hear pundits placing their bets on whether the Fed will cut 25 basis points, 50 basis points, or Door Number Three, which is rumored to be a grab bag of funds rate and discount rate cuts, along with other measures to make credit easier to obtain for those that need or want it. The FOMC meeting is tomorrow. So expect everything you hear or read in the financial media to be seen through that lens between now and then.

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TradingMarkets 5 Business Stories You Need to Know

End of the Year Markups Good for Stocks – Wall Street Journal

As the year races toward the end, money managers look to dump their losers and pile into the winners. The end result is often a bullish December and January.

How Low Will the Fed Go? – Bloomberg

The inflation gauge favored by the Fed suggests rates cannot be cut as deeply as some are suggesting. Bond fund managers, including Pimco’s Gross, beg to differ.

CompUSA Beaten by Best Buy, Wal-Mart – Bloomberg

The final Christmas for electronics retailer is only a few weeks way. Restructuring firm, Gordon Brothers Group, will shut the doors and sell the stores after the winter holidays.

Why Trends (Are Still) Your Friends – Barron’s

Forecasting a reversal of fortune is often a fool’s errand. When trends dominate, yesterday is as good a predictor of tomorrow as you’ll need as an investor.

Bear Hearts Apple –Bloomberg

A “surge” in growth by the end of 2008 is expected to boost stock by 34% according to Bear Stearns analyst. Ipod sales and Asian demand for Macs cited as drivers.

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
Phoenix Technologies PTEC 8
Gulfport Energy GPOR 8
EnerSys ENS 8
Carmike Cinema CKEC 8
Atlantic TeleNetwork ATNI 8

View More Stocks

TradingMarkets Tracking the Wizards

Lewis Buys More Bear – New York Times

Billionaire Joseph Lewis, who made his fortune as a currency trader, has upped his stake in the investment bank to 8%. The move makes Lewis one of the firm’s largest shareholders.

Private Equity IPO Still on Track – New York Times

One of the largest private equity funds of funds, HarbourVest, lowers the amount of shares to be issued from $400 to $300 million, reflecting some investor nervousness about the publicly-traded, private equity fund model.

Vanguard To Launch Hedge Fund –FINalternatives

After besting market returns for 15 years, recently underperforming Bill Miller of Legg Mason Value Trust makes bets on vendor financing, technology, and investment brokerage firms.

View Portfolios of Prominent Investors

TradingMarkets Playbook

The markets have moved almost straight up since bottoming in late November. We have said throughout this bounce that sideways movement would almost be more welcome. Markets tend to move more sharply when they are going down than up, which is why we continue to look for this near-vertical market to pullback in the near-term. The VIX is also sending a “pullback possible” message.

As we have noted in recent days, the relatively small number of high, PowerRatings stocks for traders is one indication that the market is overextended in the short-term. Retail may be one guide as we move through the winter holidays. We continue to encourage patience, but note that there is a strong seasonal bias to the upside right now. Letting the market digest its recent gains may set up better opportunities ahead.

David Penn is Senior Editor at TradingMarkets.com..



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