Month: August 2012

As the saying goes, there are many possible reasons for an insider to sell a stock, but only one reason to buy — they expect to make money. So let’s look at two noteworthy recent insider buys.

As the saying goes, there are many possible reasons for an insider to sell a stock, but only one reason to buy — they expect to make money. So let’s look at two noteworthy recent insider buys.

The Daily Ticker’s Aaron Task interviews Patrick DeHaan

In trading on Monday, airlines shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 0.7%. Leading the group were shares of US Airways Group (LCC), up about 4% and shares of United Continental Holdings (UAL) up about 3.7% on the day.

By CountingPips.com

The latest Commitments of Traders (COT) report, released on Friday by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), showed that overall US dollar long positions held by large futures speculators decreased last week to the lowest level all year as traders continue to increase bets in the riskier currencies.

Non-commercial large futures traders, including hedge funds and large speculators, cut their total US dollar long positions to $8.92 billion on August 14th from a total long position of $11.7 billion on August 7th, according to the CFTC COT data and calculations by Reuters which calculates the dollar positions against the euro, British pound, Japanese yen, Australian dollar, Canadian dollar and the Swiss franc.

Individual Currencies:

EuroFX: Currency speculator sentiment for the euro dipped last week after improving for three consecutive weeks. Euro net short positions or bets against the currency rose to 137,810 contracts on August 14th from the previous week’s total of 131,711 net short contracts on August 7th. Euro short positions, on August 7th, were at their best level since May 1 when short positions equaled 106,990 contracts.

The COT report is published every Friday by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and shows futures positions as of the previous Tuesday. It can be a useful tool for traders to gauge investor sentiment and to look for potential changes in the direction of a currency or commodity. Each currency contract is a quote for that currency directly against the U.S. dollar, a net short amount of contracts means that more speculators are betting that currency to fall against the dollar and a net long position expect that currency to rise versus the dollar.

(The graphs overlay the forex spot closing price of each Tuesday when COT trader positions are reported for each corresponding spot currency pair.)

GBP: British pound sterling positions improved last week and brought contracts to a virtual neutral level against the US dollar. British pound sterling speculative positions totaled 288 net short contracts on August 14th following a total of 8,275 net short contracts on August 7th. The latest week’s position for the British currency is the best level since May 29th long positions equaled 1,475 contracts.

JPY: Japanese yen speculative contracts edged up slightly on August 14th following a dip the previous week. Japanese yen positions totaled 30,704 net long contracts reported on August 14th following a total of 27,539 net long contracts on August 7th.

CHF: Swiss franc speculator positions edged lower last week after improving for two consecutive weeks. Speculator positions for the Swiss currency futures registered a total of 18,854 net short contracts on August 14th following a total of 17,915 net short contracts as of August 7th.

CAD: Canadian dollar positions advanced higher for a third consecutive week and to the best level since May. Canadian dollar positions rose to a total of 20,593 net long contracts as of August 14th following a total of 19,122 net short contracts that were reported for August 7th. The Canadian currency positions are at the  highest level since May 29th when long positions equaled 34,085 contracts.

AUD: The Australian dollar positions continued to surge sharply higher last week and rose for the fourth consecutive week. Aussie speculative futures positions advanced to a total net amount of 66,679 long contracts on August 14th after totaling 52,894 net long contracts as of August 7th. The improvement in Aussie contracts pushed positions to their highest level since March 12th when long positions totaled 66,756 contracts.

NZD: New Zealand dollar futures speculator positions increased for a 10th straight week and are at the highest level since early March. NZD contracts increased to a total of 15,247 net long contracts as of August 14th following a total of 14,588 net long contracts on August 7th. The kiwi contracts are at their highest level since March 5th when contracts equaled 16,788 long positions.

MXN: Mexican peso speculative contracts surged higher once again last week and rose to the second highest level all year. Peso positions increased to a total of 83,511 net long speculative positions as of August 14th following a total of 69,378 long contracts that were reported for August 7th. Peso positions are at their highest level since April 2nd when long positions equaled 84,503 contracts which is the highest level of the year.

COT Currency Data Summary as of August 14, 2012
Large Speculators Net Positions vs. the US Dollar

EUR -137810
GBP -288
JPY +30704
CHF -18854
CAD +28593
AUD +66679
NZD +15247
MXN +83511

From Fnno.com, This is the financial news network. Here’s what’s in the news for Friday August 17, 2012. The Wall Street Journal reports Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) CEO Mark Zuckerberg no longer brushes off concern about the company’s declining share price, acknowledging to employees for the first time that the sell-off could hurt them. The Wall Street Journal also reports Mexican stocks are moving ahead as its IPC stock-market index has been on a record-breaking streak. While the index is up 9.8% in 2012, that’s up 16.5% in U.S. dollar terms, making Mexico one of the world’s best-performing emerging markets. Reuters reports global shares hit multi-month highs today, with top European stocks and the euro lifted by support from German Chancellor Angela Merkel for ECB intervention to calm the euro zone’s debt troubles. Reuters also reports Canadian Industry Minister Christian Paradis–who has the power to block foreign takeovers–was prepped to discuss foreign investment rules with Research In Motion’s (NASDAQ:RIMM) new CEO in a March telephone call, mindful of intense takeover speculation that’s continues to swirl around the BlackBerry maker. Bloomberg reports following its deal to buy Texas Memory Systems, IBM (NYSE:IBM) says it will continue its five-year shopping spree by acquiring more companies in the storage industry. Finally, Bloomberg also reports GM (NYSE:GM) CEO Dan Akerson plans a reorganization of the company that would move it away from long-entrenched regional authority toward a structure built on global functions. For more financial news and analysis follow us on Twitter @FNNOnline or check out our website at fnno.com.

Deals between Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ) and four of the nation’s largest cable companies have been approved by the Justice Department today. The agreements involved Verizon buying spectrum from the cable companies last year in an effort to expand its reach. The problem is that these are co-marketing agreements, allowing Verizon to use the infrastructure already in place instead of its FiOS network. This would make it so Verizon was the only cable provider in certain areas of the country, allowing customers no competitive choice. The Justice Department’s anti-trust division did see a problem, but allowed the deals to go through with the provision that they will only be for five-years. Expansion is good for Verizon but investors are not sold on the deal. The communications company’s stock is down slightly in early trading but it mostly riding the flat line with a little less than two tenths of a percent.

Here is your Mid-day Market Update for August 17. Stocks slightly in the green on Friday after economic data showed a rise in consumer sentiment in August.The University of Michigan -Thompson Reuters consumer-sentiment index rose to 73.6 for the month of August, higher than the previous month of 72.3. Analysts were expecting a decline in 71.8. Before the recession, the index averaged around 87. This unexpected climb though has caused stocks to edge higher into afternoon trading.Oil and Gold trading mixed so far today. Oil is up just over $95 a barrel. Gold is in the opposite direction though, down $2 so far to $1,617 an ounce.A big winner so far in today’s session is Ann, Its stock is up over 21% due to its positive quarterly results. One of the biggest losers is Marvell Technology Group (NASDAQ:MRVL). Its shares are down over 15% after analysts downgraded the stock on disappointing second quarter earnings.Taking a look at the market so far today, the Dow has gained over 11 points to 13,261. The S&P is up almost one point and the Nasdaq has added over 8 points so far today.For more market updates and analysis of the business world follow us on twitter @FNNOnline or check out our website at fnno.com

Martha Stewart Living is making headlines as Macy’s Inc. moves forward with the lawsuit against rival retailer J.C. Penney Co. Macy’s filed the lawsuit on Thursday in the Supreme Court of the State of New York. The retail giant claims Penney’s bid to sell products by Martha Stewart Living resulted in a breach of contract held by Macy’s and could potentially cost the company a significant drop in sales. The lawsuit claims J.C. Penney entered into a contract with Martha Stewart Living that would allow them to sell the home products at its stores next February. This agreement represents a breach of contract since Macy’s already has a contract in place that allows them to exclusively sell the Martha Stewart line. Macy’s shares opened today at $38.56 and is trading flat so far. On the other hand, New York-based Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia is trading almost 2% lower to $3.06. For more market updates and analysis of the business world follow us on twitter @FNNOnline.

The Atlanta BeltLine project is losing it’s current CEO amid controversy over the misuse of taxpayer dollars. Brian Leary, who serves as both President and CEO, will be leaving BeltLine at the end of August.Leary was voted out of the position by the board of the project when it came to light that taxpayer dollars could have been used to pay for things like gifts and dry cleaning. Until BeltLine fills the position, COO Lisa Gordon will serve as CEO. The Atanta BeltLine, which is still in development, is to be a series of parks, paths and rails meant revitalize and interconnect the neighborhoods of Atlanta.