Month: November 2012

Euro zone finance ministers are aiming to approve the next tranche of loans to Greece, although the money is unlikely to be disbursed before December and a deal on debt reduction may need further talks. Ciara Sutton reports.

Stocks were sharply higher today after weekend talks had investors hopeful the fiscal cliff could be avoided. The Wall Street Journal reported that President Obama was reaching out to business leaders like JP Morgan Chase’s (JPM) Jamie Dimon and Apple’s (AAPL) Tim Cook, reportedly touting his solution to the budget crisis.

Foot Locker (FL) had its estimates increased by Citigroup (C) after it beat earnings. A $41 price target was issued with a buy rating.

The Timken Company (TKR) maintained its quarterly dividend of 23 cents per share. The dividend is payable on Dec.

Bargain hunters are wise to pay careful attention to insider buying, because although there are many various reasons for an insider to sell a stock, presumably the only reason they would use their hard-earned dollars to make a purchase, is that they expect to make money. Today we look at two noteworthy recent insider buys.

In trading on Monday, oil & gas refining & marketing shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 3.1%. Leading the group were shares of Amyris (AMRS), up about 14.6% and shares of Northern Tier Energy Limited (NTI) up about 6.5% on the day.

The first trading day of the trading week will have investors keeping a close eye on political events in the Middle East as Israel moves closer to an all out war. Good morning, this is Kristin Bianco with the Week Ahead Market Report for November 19, 2012.

By CountingPips.com

The latest Commitments of Traders (COT) report, released on Friday by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), showed that large futures speculators increased their overall US dollar bets last week and added to their overall long position in the American currency.

Non-commercial large futures traders, including hedge funds and large speculators, raised their total US dollar long position to a total of $4.72 billion on November 13th from a total long position of $1.296 billion on November 6th, 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 decreased again last week for a fourth consecutive week to bring euro positions to their lowest level since September. Euro net short positions or bets against the currency rose to 83,646 contracts on November 6th from the previous week’s total of 67,141 net short contracts on October 30th. Euro positions are now at their lowest level since September 11th when short positions totaled 93,658 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 declined last week for a second straight week. British pound sterling speculative positions dropped to a total of 8,228 net long contracts on November 13th following a total of 19,279 net long contracts on November 6th. British pound positions have been on the positive side for nine straight weeks after turning bullish on September 11th but have now declined to their lowest level since September 11th.

JPY: Japanese yen speculative contracts increased last week to stop the fall of the previous five straight weeks. Japanese yen positions improved to a total of 30,447 net short contracts reported on November 13th following a total of 40,104 net short contracts on November 6th. The recent decline in Yen positions had put the Yen sentiment in the deepest short territory since May 8, 2012 when short positions totaled 41,093 contracts.

CHF: Swiss franc speculator positions fell sharply last week and fell further on the short side against the dollar. Speculator positions for the Swiss currency futures registered a total of 8,888 net short contracts on November 13th following a total of 303 net short contracts as of November 6th. Franc positions are now at their lowest level since September 11th when short positions totaled 8,967 contracts.

CAD: Canadian dollar positions decreased for an eighth consecutive week after ascending to a 2012 high level on September 18th. Canadian dollar positions decreased to a total of 66,119 net long contracts as of November 13th following a total of 74,762 net long contracts that were reported for November 6th. Before falling the last eight weeks, Canadian dollar positions had risen higher for eight weeks and reached the highest level in over two years on Sept 18th.

AUD: The Australian dollar positions advanced last week for a fourth straight week as Aussie long contracts rose to their highest level since September. Aussie speculative futures positions rose to a total net amount of 68,146 long contracts on November 13th after totaling 60,317 net long contracts as of November 6th. Australian dollar positions are now at their highest level since September 25th which was their 2012 high level with long positions equaling 86,882 contracts.

NZD: New Zealand dollar speculator positions dipped last week after advancing the previous week. NZD contracts edged lower to a total of 19,194 net long contracts as of November 6th following a total of 19,388 net long contracts on November 6th.

MXN: Mexican peso speculative contracts decreased sharply last week to fall for a fifth straight week. Peso positions fell to a total of 96,994 net long speculative positions as of November 13th following a total of 114,422 long contracts that were reported for November 6th. Peso contracts are at their lowest level since September 4th when long positions totaled 90,881 contracts.

Article by CountingPips.com

This forty sixth trading week of 2012 comes to a close with investors breathing a sigh of relief as congressional leaders express confidence they can reach a deal with President Obama to prevent a new recession and head off the fiscal cliff. Hi.

Express Scripts (ESRX) was upgraded by Citigroup (C) to neutral from buy with a price target of $62, as the current stock price provides an attractive entry point based on valuation for investors. Shares are higher by over 2.3 percent.