Wednesday Morning Coffee with TradingMarkets

  • March 12, 2008
  • David Penn

Good Morning!

Stocks Make Biggest Rally Since 2002… Humana Cuts Forecast… Japan GDP Higher Than Expected… Obama Wins Mississippi Primary… Calls for NY Gov Spitzer to Resign Grow Louder… Gold Up, Silver Down… Use of Generic Drugs Soars in U.S… Banks: Losses from Home Equity Loans Growing… Japanese Parliament Rejects Bank of Japan Govenor Candidate… Time Warner Considers Spinning Off Cable Unit.

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

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TradingMarkets 5 Business Stories You Need to Know

Google Gets DoubleClick – BusinessWeek

Google finally gets the OK from the European Union to go ahead with its planned $3.1 billion acquisition of DoubleClick. The move puts increased pressure on Microsoft, which is still struggling to makes its way in the online advertising space.

Caterpillar Raises Forecast – Bloomberg

The largest maker of earth-moving equipment such as bulldozers raised its sales forecast for 2010 to $60 billion, a 33% increase. Caterpillar’s profit projection also topped analyst estimates.

Is the Fed in “Panic Mode”? – DailyFX

Chief currency strategist for DailyFX, Kathy Lien discusses the Federal Reserve’s move to auction $200 billion in Treasuries as it related to similar liquidity-increasing moves by the European Central Bank, the Bank of England and the Swiss National Bank.

Take Two Interactive Misses Estimates – Forbes

The object of Electronic Arts’ unsolicited affection, Take Two Interactive, reported a wider than expected loss for the first quarter. The company recently rejected a $2 billion bid from Electronic Arts, saying the company was worth more.

The Fed’s $200 Bn Bet – Financial Times

$200 billion in loans to bond dealers and a wider range of collateral allowed helped stimulate investors confidence, if not euphoria, on Tuesday as the Dow Jones industrials ended up 400+ points. Observers wondered if the move was intended to lessen expectations for a larger cut in the Fed funds rate later in the month.

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
Take Two Interactive TTWO 10
Vnus Medical Technologies VNUS 9
Auxilium Pharmaceuticals AUXL 9
Votorantim Celulose VCP 8
Union Drilling UDRL 8

» View More Stocks

TradingMarkets Tracking the Wizards

Trading the Rally – TradingMarkets

Does the biggest one-day rally in years mean that the bottom is in? Our Free Report, “5 Secrets to Short Term Stock Trading Success” will help you make money trading stocks whether the current rally has legs or rolls over.

Exit Strateges for Options Traders – TradingMarkets

It’s getting late and expiration is approaching. How do you close out your position when it is at its most profitable? Trader Len Yates talks options trading strategies this morning at TradingMarkets.

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 up to $13,000 in cash prizes. Registration is free and you can start playing today.

View Portfolios of Prominent Investors

TradingMarkets Playbook

How do you follow a 400+ point rally in the Dow? The futures are somewhat lower before the bell, suggesting that there will be some pause–if not profit-taking–early in the session. There is a fairly even mix of stocks with low Short Term PowerRatings and high Short Term PowerRatings, which means that the standard approach of buying strong stocks on pullback and selling weak stocks as they bounce remains valid.

It is worth remembering that the S&P 500, Dow Industrials and Nasdaq all remain below their 200-day moving averages, which means that even with the Dow’s 400+ gain yesterday, it is not yet time to give stocks the benefit of the doubt. Let stocks prove their strength or weakness relative to the 200-day moving average before adding them to your buy or short sell lists.

David Penn is Senior Editor at TradingMarkets.com.

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