November 3rd, 2011
Every morning the Street of Walls team puts out an update on market levels, today’s top stories, and active M&A deals.
Morning Market Levels:
- S&P futures are up 15 points to 1,249
- Europe: DJ Euro Stoxx 3.5%, FTSE 1.4%, CAC 3.5%, DAX 3.6%, Spain 2.4%, Italy 4.6%
- Asia: Japan -2.2%, Hong Kong -2.5%, India 0.1%, Australia -0.3%
- USD (DXY) down -0.22%
- Gold up 1.32% to $1,761.3
- Silver up 1.36% to $34.7
- Copper up 0.14% to $358.8
- Crude up 1.62% to $94.0
- Corn up 0.97% to 651.3
- Wheat up 0.96% to $629.5
- 10yr Treasury yields are up, trading at 2.07%
- S&P current trading at 12.45x current year P/E
Today’s Top Stories:
- Angie’s List to IPO: has filed an S-1 amendment today with proposed IPO offering valuation metrics. The company plans to issue approximately 8,793,408 common shares at an offering price of $11.00 to $13.00 per share http://bit.ly/w3r3XM
- Greece Situation Changing: The euro zone is working on a possible exit of Greece from the euro zone, Eurogroup head Jean-Claude Juncker said on Thursday, saying it was essential that other members of the currency union would not be damaged in such an event http://bit.ly/tzJB55
- Gov’t Supercommittee: One hundred House members from both parties Wednesday urged Congress’s deficit-cutting supercommittee to trim the budget gap by $4 trillion over 10 years, with Republicans signaling that would require tax increases and Democrats acknowledging it would require cuts in the social safety net http://on.wsj.com/tS7W7W
- Firms Paying No Tax: A comprehensive study released on Thursday found that 280 of the biggest publicly traded American companies faced federal income tax bills equal to 18.5 percent of their profits during the last three years — little more than half the official corporate rate of 35 percent and lower than their competitors in many industrialized countries http://nyti.ms/rtoh9f
- MF Global Update: Regulators tightened their focus on MF Global Holdings Ltd. as the Securities and Exchange Commission launched a probe into whether the firm and Chief Executive Jon S. Corzine made misleading statements about the $6.3 billion bet that sank the company, according to people familiar with the matter http://on.wsj.com/tNyYvU
- BAC Customers Unsatisfied: In a Bloomberg pool BAC customers are some of the least satisfied among the big banks (BBG)
- GS on Fed Easing: “Despite the dissent in favor of additional monetary easing by Chicago Fed President Evans, such a move is not yet close at hand. Jan Hatzius and team’s expectation remains that Fed officials will either replace or supplement “operation twist” with additional quantitative easing–purchases of Treasuries and/or agency MBS financed by reserve creation–but not until 2012. Chairman Bernanke has shown little appetite for “unconventional unconventional” options such as a move to a nominal GDP level target. He believes that the current framework is working well. Hatzius and team’s own view remains that a nominal GDP level target could be a much more transparent and powerful framework for attaining the Fed’s dual mandate over time than the current “Taylor rule” approach to monetary policy. The team continues to expect Fed officials to start providing forecasts of their own policy via the Summary of Economic Projections (SEP).” (Goldman Research)
- AOL Earnings: Total rev fell -6% Y/Y to $532MM (vs. Street $524MM), the lowest level of decline in 5 yrs as moderating declines in Access / Search were offset by broad momentum across the ad business
Economic Calendar:
- Thursday: Initial Jobless Claims, ISM Non-Manufacturing, Factory Orders
- Friday: Nonfarm Payrolls, Unemployment Rate
M&A Watch:
- AT&T can be sued by Sprint over proposed purchase of T-Mobile, a judge ruled (BBG)
- Illinois Attorney General asks U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to examine how Exelon’s $7.98b takeover of Constellation might affect state’s power markets (BBG)
- Groupon said to stop taking orders for IPO a day earlier than planned due to demand for shrs (BBG)
Disclosure: I do not have a position in any stocks mentioned in this article, do not have a plan to initiate a position within the next 72 hours.
Disclaimer: The information, opinions, material, and any other content provided in this article is for informational purposes only and is not to be used or considered an offer or solicitation to buy or sell securities, investment products, financial instruments, or to participate in any particular investment strategy. The information, opinions, material, and any other content provided in this article does not constitute as a recommendation or as advice to buy or sell securities, investment products, financial instruments, or to participate in any particular investment strategy.
