Month: September 2012

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) was upgraded by Goldman Sachs to neutral from sell with a $3.50 price target, as the firm believes the stock is oversold, being down by nearly fifty percent over the past year. Shares are higher by about 2.6 percent.

The Daily Ticker’s Aaron Task and Henry Blodget interview market strategist Liz Ann Sonders

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.

In trading on Monday, metals & mining shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 1.4%. Leading the group were shares of James River Coal (JRCC), up about 4.9% and shares of Arch Coal (ACI) up about 4.2% 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 large currency speculators raised their overall US dollar positions back to a total long position last week after being short the previous week for the first time since September 2011.

Non-commercial large futures traders, including hedge funds and large speculators, increased their total US dollar positions to being long by $1.5 billion on September 4th from a total short position of $441.7 million on August 28th, 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:

CAD: Canadian dollar positions rose higher for a sixth consecutive week and are at the best level since May 1st. Canadian dollar positions rose to a total of 66,555 net long contracts as of September 4th following a total of 60,936 net short contracts that were reported for August 28th. The Canadian currency positions continue to be at the highest level since May 1st when long positions equaled 70,223 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.)

AUD: The Australian dollar positions declined for the second consecutive week last week after Aussie positions had risen to the highest level all year on August 21st. Aussie speculative futures positions fell to a total net amount of 62,439 long contracts on September 4th after totaling 78,072 net long contracts as of August 28th. Australian dollar contracts peaked recently on August 21st when long positions equaled 86,882.

NZD: New Zealand dollar speculator positions decreased for a second consecutive week following 11th straight weeks of rises. NZD contracts declined to a total of 11,401 net long contracts as of September 4th following a total of 14,229 net long contracts on August 28th.

MXN: Mexican peso speculative contracts dipped last week for a second straight week after surging to the highest level all year on August 21st. Peso positions decreased to a total of 90,881 net long speculative positions as of September 4th following a total of 94,626 long contracts that were reported for August 28th. Before the past two week’s decline, Peso positions were at their highest level since July 12, 2011 when long positions equaled 98,447 contracts.

EuroFX: Currency speculator sentiment for the euro dipped just slightly following two consecutive weeks of improvements that brought euro positions to their best level since April. Euro net short positions or bets against the currency edged up to 102,306 contracts on September 4th from the previous week’s total of 101,561 net short contracts on August 28th.

GBP: British pound sterling positions fell last week for a second consecutive week after improving for two straight weeks. British pound sterling speculative positions totaled 6,868 net short contracts on September 4th following a total of 1,968 net long contracts on August 28th. Last week’s level was the lowest since August 7 when speculators were short the pound sterling by 8,275 contracts.

JPY: Japanese yen speculative contracts increased for a second consecutive week following a sharp drop on August 21st. Japanese yen positions rose to a total of 24,007 net long contracts reported on September 4th following a total of 21,556 net long contracts on August 28th.

CHF: Swiss franc speculator positions fell after showing improvement for the previous two straight weeks. Speculator positions for the Swiss currency futures registered a total of 13,112 net short contracts on September 4th following a total of 11,461 net short contracts as of August 28th.

COT Currency Data Summary as of September 4, 2012
Large Speculators Net Positions vs. the US Dollar

EUR -102306
GBP -6868
JPY +24007
CHF -13112
CAD +66555
AUD +62439
NZD +11401
MXN +90881

Inspectors of the EU, IMF and ECB begin their first meeting with Greece’s Finance Minister for a crucial review of reforms. Rough Cut (no reporter narration).

Inspectors of the EU, IMF and ECB begin their first meeting with Greece’s Finance Minister for a crucial review of reforms. Rough Cut (no reporter narration).

From FNNO.com, you’re watching the Financial News Network. Here’s what’s in the news for Friday, September 7, 2012. The Wall Street Journal reports that Glencore International adjourned its extraordinary shareholder meeting to vote on a merger of equals with Xstrata (XSRAY), following a new development overnight, the company’s chairman said today, without giving any details. Its plans to merge with Xstrata were facing collapse as several major shareholders in the miner were demanding better terms to the deal. The Wall Street Journal also reports that Apple (AAPL) is in talks to license music for a custom-radio service similar to the popular one operated by Pandora Media (P), sources say, in what would be a bid by the hardware maker to expand its dominance in online music. Reuters reports that major banks are considering whether to enter the California carbon market, which experts believe could grow into a $40B a year market by 2020, but one that is also loaded with risk and uncertainty. Reuters also reports that the National Credit Union Administration sued UBS (UBS), accusing the bank of violating federal and state laws through misrepresentations in the sale of mortgage-backed securities to two credit unions that later failed, according to a court filing. Reuters also reports the union representing the striking cabin crew at Lufthansa (DLAKY) said it was open for talks after renewing contact with the airline in a fight over pay and conditions that led to a 24-hour countrywide stoppage today. Finally, Bloomberg reports that a key interest rate for more than $500T of securities worldwide will be replaced by a benchmark subject to greater government control, according to 45% of those responding to a quarterly Bloomberg Global Poll. They said the London interbank offered rate, known as Libor, will be supplanted by a more regulated model within five years, Bloomberg reports. For more financial news and analysis follow us on Twitter @FNNOnline or check out our website at fnno.com.

The much anticipated jobs numbers are in for August and it seems they did not meet expectations. The nation added a net total of 96,000 jobs in the month of August, lowering the unemployment rate to 8.1%. According to USA Today, analysts had been expecting net total gains of approximately 127,000 jobs for the month. The industries that saw the greatest gains were health care, food services, and technical fields. In addition to being much anticipated, this report is seen as having huge political implications. The jobs numbers could very well affect voter’s perceptions of the president’s economic record before the November election.

Intel Corporation, the world’s largest maker of semiconductors, appears to be not very good at predicting its earnings. The company just slashed its third quarter sales forecast, and withdrew its forecast for the full year. Intel now estimates that its third quarter sales will be between $12.9 billion and $13.5 billion, much lower than the previously predicted $13.8 billion to $14.8 billion. The company will announce new full-year projections along with its third quarter reports on October 16th. The chipmaker blamed this decrease on the declining demands for personal computers, as well as demand for corporate customers. Intel previously reduced its sales forecast back in July.