The Chicago PMI came in at 58.4 in October slightly below consensus. The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded down from 12,229.29 towards 12,000 going into the final half hour of trading. The NASDAQ traded down from 2716.70 to below 2695 going into the final half hour of trading.
Asian stocks slipped on Monday as the Japanese yen drops following intervention. The Nikkei 225 fell 0.69% to 8,988 with the Hang Seng down 0.77% to 19,865. European stocks were lower as the focus shifts to concerns over Italy’s debt burden and with Eurozone inflation above target. The FTSE 100 declined 1.99% to 5,589 with the DAX slumping 2.70% to 6,175 and the CAC 40 cascading lower by 2.83% to 3,254. The US Treasury 10-Year yield declined from 2.324 to 2.146 on Monday. Gold declined from $1746.5 the Troy ounce to $1705.5 back below its 50-day simple moving average at $1733.6. Crude oil declined from $93.80 per barrel to $91.36 staying below its 200-day simple moving average at $94.80. The euro versus the dollar traded down from 1.4169 to 1.3864, between its 50-day and 200-day simple moving averages at 1.3839 and 1.4103.
Energy
Oil driller Nabors Industries (NBR) is making a $100M severance-style payment to CEO Eugene Isenberg after replacing him with his number two, Anthony Petrello, even though Isenberg is continuing on as Chairman. Golar LNG Partners (GMLP) gets begun with a Buy and $32 price objective at Citigroup. Chevron (CVX) is lowered to Neutral from Buy at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch. Arch Coal (ACI) is cut 180 degrees, to Underperform from Outperform at Credit Agricole. ClearBridge Energy MLP Opportunity Fund (EMO) is among several energy income equities Reduced to Neutral from Outperform by brokers Robert W. Baird. In afternoon trading: Shares of Yingli Green Energy (YGE) are down about 12.75%. Shares of Trina Solar (TSL) are down about 12%. Shares of Suntech Power (STP) are down about 11%.
Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) was trading at $69.71 at 4:00 PM on Friday, down 4.56% on the day – up 2.14% year-to-date.
Materials
Arcelor Mittal (MT) is a new Buy at UBS. Newmont Mining (NEM) is downgraded to Underperform from Sector Perform at CIBC World Markets. Olin (OLN) is lowered to Underperform from Buy at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch. In afternoon trading: Shares of Mechel OAO (MTL) are down about 9%. Shares of Stillwater Mining (SWC) are down about 7.75%. Shares of AK Steel Holding (AKS) are down about 7.5%. Shares of United States Steel (X) are down about 7.25%. Shares of Jaguar Mining (JAG) are down about 7%.
The Materials Select Sector SPDR (XLB) was trading at $34.45 at 4:00 PM on Friday, down 4.28% on the day – down 10.31% year-to-date.
Industrials
Beacon Power (BCON), the operator of a flywheel energy storage plant that received a $43M loan guarantee from the Department of Energy, yesterday filed for bankruptcy. Arkansas Best (ABFS) is now Neutral from Underweight at JPMorgan. Air France-KLM (AFLYY) is downgraded to Sell from Hold at Societe Generale. In afternoon trading: Shares of Beacon Power are down about 74.5%. Shares of Vestas Wind Systems (VWDRY) are down about 23.25%. Shares of Mueller Water Products (MWA) are down about 7.5%. Shares of DryShips (DRYS) are down about 7%.
The Industrial Select Sector SPDR (XLI) was trading at $33.42 at 4:00 PM on Friday, down 2.45% on the day – down 4.16% year-to-date.
Consumer Discretionary
Panasonic (PC) has predicted that it will make a FY net loss of ¥420B ($5.5B), far worse than the firm’s previous forecast for a profit of ¥30B. The expected loss, which would be Panasonic’s biggest in ten years, is due to the global economic slowdown, the yen’s strength, the Thai floods, and soaring restructuring costs as the company attempts to shake off losses at its TV unit. In FQ2, Panasonic’s operating profit slumped to ¥42B from ¥85.2B a year earlier and to below forecasts of ¥50B. Sales slipped 6% to ¥2.08T. Honda (HMC) has withdrawn its annual guidance for earnings and global sales, due to the strong yen and floods in Thailand, where car factory operations are suspended indefinitely because of the floods. Honda’s FQ2 operating profit slumped 68% to ¥52.5B ($693M) (versus a forecast of ¥63.5B) and revenue slipped 16% to ¥1.9T. Loews (LOW) Q3 EPS comes in at $0.40 (missing estimates by 26 cents on revenue of $3.43B. Honda Motor (HMC) reported FQ2 operating profit -68% to ¥52.5B ($693M) (versus forecast of ¥63.5B). Panasonic (PC) reported FQ2 operating profit ¥42B ($532M) (versus ¥85.2B a year earlier), News Corp. (NWSA) is assigned a Neutral rating at UBS. Orient-Express (OEH) is initiated with an Overweight by Barclays. Lamar Advertising (LAMR) is lifted to Outperform from Neutral with Wedbush. Ann Inc (ANN) is taken to Neutral from Buy at Suntrust. Fossil (FOSL) is reduced to Hold from Buy at Brean Murray based on valuation. Carter Holdings (CRI) is cut to Neutral from Buy at Sterne Agee. In afternoon trading: Shares of Office Depot (ODP) are down about 7.75%. Shares of Honda are down about 7.75%. Shares of Coldwater Creek (CWTR) are up about 7.75%.
The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY) was trading at $39.02 at 4:00 PM on Friday, down 1.54% on the day – up 4.30% year-to-date.
Consumer Staples
Whole Foods (WFM) is a new Neutral at JPMorgan, which assigns an identical rating on Kroger (KR), and has an Overweight on Supervalu (SVU). In afternoon trading: Shares of NuPathe (PATH) are up about 18%. Shares of B&G Foods (BGS) are up about 8.5%. Shares of Central European Distribution (CEDC) are down about 7.75%. Shares of Coffee Holding (JVA) are down about 6.5%. Shares of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR) are down about 6.25%.
The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (XLP) was trading at $31.04 at 4:00 PM on Friday, down 1.49% on the day – up 5.90% year-to-date.
Healthcare
Humana (HUM) beat estimates by 51 cents with revenue in-line with estimates. Aetna (AET) gets upgraded to Conviction Buy from Buy at Goldman Sachs. Novartis (NVS) is now Neutral from Outperform at Cowen & Company. Dentsply (XRAY) is downgraded to Underperform from Buy at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch. In afternoon trading: Shares of Momenta Pharmaceuticals (MNTA) are up about 22.75%. Shares of Zalicus (ZLCS) are up about 19%. Shares of Spectrum Pharmaceuticals (SPPI) are up about 9.25%. Shares of Integra LifeSciences (IART) are down about 14.5%. Shares of Auxilium Pharmaceuticals (AUXL) are down about 9.5%.
The Health Care Select Sector SPDR (XLV) was trading at $33.56 at 4:00 PM on Friday, down 1.90 on the day – up 6.54% year-to-date.
Financials
Following marathon weekend talks, MF Global (MF) could file for bankruptcy protection today and sell its assets to discount brokerage firm Interactive Brokers (IBKR) for about $1B in a court-supervised auction. Due to poor market conditions, the Treasury will probably put off selling more of its 77% stake in AIG (AIG) when the next opportunity arises after the insurer reports earnings on Thursday. Weingarten Realty Investors (WRI) beat estimates by 2 cents with revenue in-line with estimates. CNA Financial (CNA) beat estimates by 9 cents. Barclays (BCS) reported a pretax profit of £1.34B (versus £1.24B forecast). Marsh McLennan (MMC) is moved to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank. Weyerhaeuser (WY) is hoisted to Hold from Sell at Deutsche Bank. Baltic Trading (BALT) is cut to Market Perform from Outperform at FBR Capital. ClearBridge Energy MLP Opportunity Fund (EMO) is among several energy income equities Reduced to Neutral from Outperform by brokers Robert W. Baird. Public Storage (PSA) is downgraded to Hold from Buy at ISI Group.
The Financial Select Sector SPDR (XLF) was trading at $13.50 at 4:00 PM on Friday, down 3.95% on the day – down 15.39% year-to-date.
Information Technology
Sohu.com (SOHU) missed estimates by a penny, while beating revenue by $5M. Wipro (WIT) missed estimates by 14 cents on revenue of $1.85B. Broadcom (BRCM) is boosted to Outperform from Market Perform at JMP Securities. Juniper Networks (JNPR) is upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital. Motorola Mobility (MMI) is taken to Sell from Hold at Societe Generale. SanDisk (SNDK) is downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a $58 target price at at Sterne Agee. Sage plc (SGPYY) is downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS. Salesforce.com (CRM) is cut to Equal Weight at Global Equity Research. In afternoon trading: Shares of Changeyou.com (CYOU) are down about 12%. Shares of Sohu.com are down about 11%. Shares of Renesola (SOL) are down about 10.75%.
The Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) was trading at $26.01 at 4:00 PM on Friday, down 1.77% on the day – up 3.26% year-to-date.
Telecommunications Services
France Telecom (FTE) is taken to Sell from Neutral at UBS. In afternoon trading: Shares of Sprint Nextel (S) are down about 5.5%. Shares of NII Holdings (NIHD) are down about 5.5%. Actives: Shares of AT&T (T) are down about a half of a percent. Shares of Verizon (VZ) are down about 1%. Shares of MetroPCS (PCS) are down about 3.5%. Shares of Frontier Communications (FTR) are up about 1%.
The NASDAQ Telecommunications Index (IXTC) was trading at $198.91 at 4:00 PM on Friday, down 1.90% on the day – down 11.74% year-to-date.
Utilities
FirstEnergy (FE) is a new Neutral at UBS. Great Plains Energy (GXP) gets moved to Market Perform from Outperform with Wells Fargo. In afternoon trading: Shares of Duke Energy (DUK) are up about 0.6%. Shares of CenterPoint Energy (CNP) are down about 1.1%. Shares of Exelon (EXC) are up about 0.4%. Shares of American Electric Power (AEP) are up about 0.3%. Shares of AES Corp. (AES) are down about 2.2%. Shares of NiSource (NI) are down about 0.9%. Shares of Southern (SO) are up about a quarter of a percent. Shares of PSE&G (PEG) are up about 0.2%.
The Utilities Select Sector SPDR (XLU) was trading at $34.85 at 4:00 PM on Friday, down 0.46% on the day – up 11.20% year-to-date.
STOCKS: NBR, GMLP, CVX, ACI, EMO, YGE, TSL, STP, MT, NEM, OLN, MTL, SWC, AKS, X, JAG, BCON, ABFS, AFLYY, VWDRY, MWA, DRYS, PC, HMC, LOW, NWSA, OEH, LAMR, ANN, FOSL, CRI, ODP, CWTR, WFM, KR, SVU, PATH, BGS, CEDC, JVA, GMCR, HUM, AET, NVS, XRAY, MNTA, ZLCS, SPPI, IART, AUXL, MF, IBKR, AIG, WRI, CNA, BCS, MMC, WY, BALT, EMO, PSA, SOHU, WIT, BRCM, JNPR, MMI, SNDK, SGPYY, CCRM, CYOU, SOL, FTE, S, NIHD, T, VZ, PCS, FTR, FE, GXP, DUK, CNP, EXC, AEP, AES, NI, SO, PEG
