Market News

[BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +0.5. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +4.0. Futures suggest a flat to slightly higher start to trading on Friday, after the major indices had declines over 1% yesterday. Oppenheimer analyst Meredith Whitney warned on CNBC last night that she believes Citigroup (C) will again need to cut its dividend due to being under reserved. In November, Whitney correctly predicted Citi would cut its dividend. The economic calender is empty.

I watched that video and read a article about her and the death threats she received because of that prediction. Very interesting. She is Forbes's second highest ranked stock picker for 2007.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/markets/article2796774.ece
 
[BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +3.8. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +5.0. Futures gain a few points and now point to a slightly higher open. Freddie Mac (FRE) and Fannie Mae (FNM) are poised to garner some attention this session after being downgraded to sell from Neutral at Merrill Lynch.
 
[BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +7.0. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +11.2. Futures climb to their best levels on the release of a favorable Producer Price Index (PPI) revision. The November PPI was revised to +2.6% from 3.2% month over month. December PPI was revised to -0.3% from -0.1%.
 
AP
Northern Rock Under Government Control
Friday February 22, 9:19 am ET
By Jane Wardell, AP Business Writer Northern Rock Nationalization Completed, Shareholder Compensation Next on Agenda
LONDON (AP) -- Northern Rock PLC was officially transferred to state ownership Friday, five months after the global credit crisis felled Britain's fifth largest mortgage lender and sparked the nation's first bank run in more than 150 years.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080222/britain_northern_rock.html
 
Briefing.com
Year-to-date the S&P 500 is down 9.4%. The S&P 500, however, remains roughly 20 points above its 52-week closing low reached in late January
 
08:30 am : S&P futures vs fair value: +2.2. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +0.2. A slightly higher to flat open is expected. The only item on the economic calender is the January Existing Home sales at 10:00 ET. Economists expect a reading of 4.80 Million, a decrease of 1.8% month over month. Crude oil is trading slightly higher, up $0.15 to $98.96 per barrel.
 
08:00 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -2.1. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +0.8. It is shaping up to be a slightly lower start to the trading day. Futures saw a dip after Dow component Home Depot (HD) reported earnings that failed to live up to expectations, and provided a disappointing outlook. MBIA (MBI), which was a key component to yesterday’s late-day rally, is again garnering the market’s attention after it announced it is eliminating its dividend, and will split the company in a five-year period. Futures may go on the move at 8:30 ET with the release of January PPI. Economists expect a 0.4% rise in PPI, and for core PPI to rise 0.2%.
 
08:30 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -5.8. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -6.8. Futures slide on a higher than expected inflation reading. January Produce Price Index (PPI) rose 1.0% month over month, compared to the expected rise of 0.4%. Excluding food and energy, PPI rose 0.4% month over month, higher than the consensus estimate that called for a rise of 0.2%. That leaves PPI up 7.4% year-over-year and PPI ex food and energy is up 2.3%. In earnings news, retailer Macy’s (M) reported earnings that beat expectations by $0.05, and guided FY09 EPS in-line with current estimates. Target (TGT) topped its earnings estimates by a penny.
 
More bad news:


Home Prices Drop 8.9 Percent in 3 Months
Tuesday February 26, 9:18 am ET

Key Home Price Index Shows Record Declines in 2007,

Double-Digit Drops in 8 Metro Areas

NEW YORK (AP) -- A closely watched study shows U.S. home prices falling 8.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2007. That marks the largest drop in the index's 20-year history and a full year of declining values.

The Standard & Poor's/Case Shiller home price indices reflect year-over-year declines in 17 metropolitan areas with double-digit declines in eight of them.

Index architect Robert J. Shiller said "wherever you look things look bleak."

The quarterly index tracks prices of existing-family homes nationwide compared with a year earlier.
 
And don't forget this one:


US Home Foreclosures Soar in January
Tuesday February 26, 7:40 am ET
By Alex Veiga, AP Business Writer Number of US Homes Facing Foreclosure Jumps 57 Percent in January


LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The number of homes facing foreclosure jumped 57 percent in January compared to a year ago, with lenders increasingly forced to take possession of homes they couldn't unload at auctions, a mortgage research firm said Monday.


Nationwide, some 233,001 homes received at least one notice from lenders last month related to overdue payments, compared with 148,425 a year earlier, according to Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac Inc. Nearly half of the total involved first-time default notices.
The worsening situation came despite ongoing efforts by lenders to help borrowers manage their payments by modifying loan terms, working out long-term repayment plans and other actions

"You have more people going into default and a higher percentage of the properties going back to the banks," said Rick Sharga, RealtyTrac's vice president of marketing.

The U.S. foreclosure rate last month was one filing for every 534 homes.

The Cape Coral-Fort Myers area in Florida posted the highest foreclosure rate of any metro area in the nation, with one of every 86 homes in some stage of foreclosure, said RealtyTrac Inc.

Stockton, Calif., was ranked second, with one of every 97 homes involved in a foreclosure filing, while the Riverside-San Bernardino metro area in Southern California had the third-highest foreclosure rate with filings for one of every 101 properties.
January's tally represented an 8 percent hike from December.
 
Worries Grow for Worse 'Stagflation'
Tuesday February 26, 6:09 pm ET
By Jeannine Aversa, AP Economics Writer Worries Grow for Twin Evils of 'Stagflation' -- Stagnant Economy, Lost Jobs, Surging Inflation

WASHINGTON (AP) -- It's a toxic economic mix the nation hasn't seen in three decades: Prices are speeding upward at the fastest pace in a quarter century, even as the economy loses steam. Economists call the disease "stagflation," and they're worried it might be coming back.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080226/economy_twin_evils.html
 
11:00 am : The market spikes into positive territory as Bernanke starts answering questions from Congress members. The meeting is currently suspended as Congress members had to go to a vote. However, news that the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise (OFHEO) Oversight is going to remove portfolio growth caps on Fannie Mae (FNM 31.19, +4.22) and Freddie Mac (FRE 28.61, +3.40) on March 1 is the actual underlying catalyst for the recent buying interest.
The OFHEO statement notes that it will discuss with Fannie and Freddie management the gradual decreasing of the current 30% OFHEO-directed capital requirement. Doing so would free up extra capital that enable companies to purchase more mortgages and improve overall liquidity in the mortgage market.
IBM's (IBM 115.92, +1.54) CFO said he feels better about IBM's United State business two months into the first quarter than he did in the fourth quarter of last year, according to Reuters. Yesterday, IBM announced a massive $15 billion stock buy back program, including $12 billion in 2008. Because IBM is using cash from operations for its buyback, it indicates it feels confident about its outlook.DJ30 +40.63 NASDAQ +10.52 SP500 +3.63 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1053/1542/614 mln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1109/1803/385 mln
 
AP
Freddie Mac Posts $2.5B Loss in 4Q
Thursday February 28, 7:44 am ET Freddie Mac Posts Wider Loss of $2.5B in 4th-Qtr As Loan Defaults Mounted
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Freddie Mac says its loss widened to $2.5 billion in the fourth quarter as defaults mounted on home mortgages.
Freddie Mac is the No. 2 U.S. buyer and backer of home loans. The fourth-quarter loss compares with a loss of $401 million in the last three months of 2006.
Freddie Mac reported Thursday the latest loss was equivalent to $3.97 a share. It lost 73 cents a share a year earlier. Thomson Financial says Wall Street analysts had expected the company to lose $2.34 a share in the latest period.
 
[BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: -7.5. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -6.0. Early indications suggest a lower start to trading. In earnings news, Sears Holdings (SHLD) missed its EPS estimate by six cents. Freddie Mac (FRE) reported a fourth quarter loss of $3.97 per share, which is $1.63 worse than the First Call consensus. On Wednesday, Fannie Mae (FNM) also reported a larger than expected loss. Sprint (S) is down more than 10% in pre-market trading. The company had a massive write-down in the value of its wireless unit and eliminated its dividend. Bernanke will once again be testifying, this time before the Senate Banking Committee. Because he already testified before the House yesterday, there should not be any real surprises today.
 
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