Comment by Phil

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Phil
January 13th, 2010 at 10:15 am

GOOG/Onc – Not down enough to interest me yet.  Hopefully someone calculates that this shaves 20% off their value and they drop to $550 or lower, then I want to get in. 

WFR $13.50 looming again.  VLO $16.50 is the other entry we love.  Gasoline is still holding $2 but probably won’t after the inventory report.  

Good job on that pair trade Cap!

While the White House congratulates itself on last year’s stimulus package, here’s a staggering statistic: Nearly 38M people, or one in eight Americans, rely on food stamps.

The Fed’s equity could be wiped out by a 2.8% drop in the value of its Treasurys and its Fannie/Freddie securities, writes Heard on the Street. "True, the Fed could hold on to those securities and ride out any losses… but what self-respecting central bank wants to risk a negative net worth?"

Thou doest protest too much, say many economists about Bernanke’s insistence that low interest rates didn’t cause the housing bubble. In a WSJ survey, over 75% of economists disagreed with Bernanke’s assessment.

Mark Thoma weighs in on whether or not low interest rates were to blame for the housing bubble, and makes the very good point that the answer doesn’t have to be an either-or.

German officials are raising their 2010 growth estimates, but Germany’s awful 2009 GDP data may signal more of a double-dip than an actual bottom.

Bloomberg’s global economic confidence index rises to the highest level since the series began two years ago. "It may be a slow recovery but it appears to be sustainable and this is likely to give the markets the backbone they need to continue normalizing."

As it continues to add customers, MetroPCS (PCS) is pushing ahead with its planned price war, offering service packages $10 cheaper than similar plans from Sprint (S). MetroPCS execs admit the move will hurt profitability, but are hoping the losses will be offset by higher customer retention.

Really?  REALLY???  While Ford (F) bets on small cars, GM is staking its fortunes on full-size pickup trucks. A major update of its truck line could cost the company close to $1B.

Sector ETF strength: Base Metals– DBB +1.8%. Healthcare Providers– IHF +1%. Silver– SLV +1%. Pharma– PPH +1%.
Sector ETF weakness: Gasoline– UGA -1.5%. Heating Oil– UHN -1.3%. Oil– USO -0.8%.

MS and some other Gang of 12 member upgraded their outlook on metals by 30% – that’s why they are up.  This is total BS pumping, trying to keep the markets up today.

Dow leaders: MRK +3.7%. KFT +1.7%. BA +1.5%. PFE +1%. DD +0.9%.
Dow laggards: GE -1.1%. T -0.7%.