| Commentary Stocks Close Sharply Higher On Late-Day Rally - U.S. Commentary After showing considerable volatility over the course of the trading day, stocks ended Tuesday's trading sharply higher on the heels of a late-day rally. A report that European finance ministers are examining ways to recapitalize banks contributed to the substantial upward move. (Oct 4, 2011) Full Article    Economic News U.S. Factory Orders Show Modest Decrease In August Following a somewhat smaller than initially reported jump in July, U.S. factory orders fell modestly in August, according to figures released Tuesday by the Commerce Department. New orders for manufactured goods decreased by $840 million, or 0.2 percent, in August to a total level of $451 billion. Economists had been expecting orders to drop by about 0.3 percent in August. (Oct 4, 2011) Full Article Corporate News HSBC Bank Disposes Cambridge Water To South Staffordshire HSBC Holdings Plc (HBC, HSBA.L) said HSBC Bank Plc, its wholly owned subsidiary, sold Cambridge Water Plc to South Staffordshire Plc, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of investment funds managed by Alinda Capital Partners. HSBC Holdings stated the transaction comprises Cambridge Water's regulated and non-regulated activities. As at December 31, 2010, Cambridge Water had audited gross assets of 61.6 million pounds. (Oct 4, 2011) Full Article Jean Coutu Group Q2 Profit Up The Jean Coutu Group (PJC) Inc. (PJC_A.TO) said its second-quarter net profit increased to C$66.4 million or C$0.29 per share from C$43.4 million or C$0.18 per share a year earlier, mainly attributable to the gain on disposal of shares in Rite Aid for a total consideration of C$22.0 million, net of related costs or C$0.10 per share. Revenue amounted to C$635.2 million during the second quarter ended August 27, 2011, compared with C$625.6 million in the previous year, an increase of 1.5%. (Oct 4, 2011) Full Article Qualcomm Promotes Steve Mollenkopf To President, COO Wireless technology company Qualcomm, Inc. (QCOM) announced Tuesday the promotion of Steve Mollenkopf to president and chief operating officer, effective November 12, 2011. On the same day, current President Steve Altman will become vice chairman, and Derek Aberle will succeed Mollenkopf as executive vice president and group president. (Oct 4, 2011) Full Article IBM To Acquire Q1 Labs IBM (IBM) Tuesday reported a definitive agreement to acquire privately held Q1 Labs, a Waltham, Massachusetts-based provider of security intelligence software. The move aims to accelerate IBM's efforts to help clients more intelligently secure their enterprises by applying analytics to correlate information from key security domains and creating security dashboards for their organizations. Financial terms were not disclosed. (Oct 4, 2011) Full Article Forex Top Story Dollar Levels Off As Bernanke Signals Further Support The dollar gave back some of its strong recent gains versus the euro on Thursday, falling from an 8-month peak after stocks rebounded on comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. Risk aversion has boosted the dollar in recent weeks, but traders breathed a sigh of relief after Bernanke said that a new lending program from the Fed could backstop the U.S. banking system if the European sovereign debt crisis intensifies. The Fed stands ready to support the fragile U.S. recovery amid signs that the jobs market has not improved, the nation's top central banker told lawmakers on Tuesday. "Recent indicators, including new claims for unemployment insurance and surveys of hiring plans, point to the likelihood of more sluggish job growth in the period ahead," Bernanke said in testimony prepared for the Joint Economic Committee of Congress. The dollar slipped to $1.33 versus the euro after topping out at $1.3144 in earlier dealing. This was the dollar's highest level since mid-January. The buck also leveled off after hitting a yearly peak versus the sterling, edging to $1.54 from near $1.5350. On the other hand, the dollar held most its advance versus its Canadian counterpart as oil prices fell. The buck rose to a yearly high of C$1.0635. There was little movement near Y76.50 versus the yen. The pair has been stuck there for months, since the dollar hit a record low 75.94. Eurozone finance ministers have decided to put off the decision on the next loan installment for Greece, worth EUR 8 billion, until the troika report on the country's progress with the fiscal targets is ready. Eurogroup President Jean-Claude Juncker said early Tuesday that a Eurogroup meeting, tentatively scheduled for October 13 to decide on the next loan tranche for Greece, has been canceled as the troika report will not be ready by then. Europe's banks are seen taking a significant hit if Greece must restructure, and ratings agency S&P now sees a 40 percent chance of a double-dip European recession. "We now estimate the probability of a new recession in western Europe next year at about 40%, although in our baseline forecast we continue to anticipate sluggish and unevenly distributed growth in the coming five quarters," said Jean-Michel Six, Standard & Poor's chief European economist. (Oct 4, 2011) Full Article Dollar Levels Off As Bernanke Signals Further Support The dollar gave back some of its strong recent gains versus the euro on Thursday, falling from an 8-month peak after stocks rebounded on comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. Risk aversion has boosted the dollar in recent weeks, but traders breathed a sigh of relief after Bernanke said that a new lending program from the Fed could backstop the U.S. banking system if the European sovereign debt crisis intensifies. The Fed stands ready to support the fragile U.S. recovery amid signs that the jobs market has not improved, the nation's top central banker told lawmakers on Tuesday. "Recent indicators, including new claims for unemployment insurance and surveys of hiring plans, point to the likelihood of more sluggish job growth in the period ahead," Bernanke said in testimony prepared for the Joint Economic Committee of Congress. The dollar slipped to $1.33 versus the euro after topping out at $1.3144 in earlier dealing. This was the dollar's highest level since mid-January. The buck also leveled off after hitting a yearly peak versus the sterling, edging to $1.54 from near $1.5350. On the other hand, the dollar held most its advance versus its Canadian counterpart as oil prices fell. The buck rose to a yearly high of C$1.0635. There was little movement near Y76.50 versus the yen. The pair has been stuck there for months, since the dollar hit a record low 75.94. Eurozone finance ministers have decided to put off the decision on the next loan installment for Greece, worth EUR 8 billion, until the troika report on the country's progress with the fiscal targets is ready. Eurogroup President Jean-Claude Juncker said early Tuesday that a Eurogroup meeting, tentatively scheduled for October 13 to decide on the next loan tranche for Greece, has been canceled as the troika report will not be ready by then. Europe's banks are seen taking a significant hit if Greece must restructure, and ratings agency S&P now sees a 40 percent chance of a double-dip European recession. "We now estimate the probability of a new recession in western Europe next year at about 40%, although in our baseline forecast we continue to anticipate sluggish and unevenly distributed growth in the coming five quarters," said Jean-Michel Six, Standard & Poor's chief European economist. (Oct 4, 2011) Full Article Dollar Levels Off As Bernanke Signals Further Support The dollar gave back some of its strong recent gains versus the euro on Thursday, falling from an 8-month peak after stocks rebounded on comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. Risk aversion has boosted the dollar in recent weeks, but traders breathed a sigh of relief after Bernanke said that a new lending program from the Fed could backstop the U.S. banking system if the European sovereign debt crisis intensifies. The Fed stands ready to support the fragile U.S. recovery amid signs that the jobs market has not improved, the nation's top central banker told lawmakers on Tuesday. "Recent indicators, including new claims for unemployment insurance and surveys of hiring plans, point to the likelihood of more sluggish job growth in the period ahead," Bernanke said in testimony prepared for the Joint Economic Committee of Congress. The dollar slipped to $1.33 versus the euro after topping out at $1.3144 in earlier dealing. This was the dollar's highest level since mid-January. The buck also leveled off after hitting a yearly peak versus the sterling, edging to $1.54 from near $1.5350. On the other hand, the dollar held most its advance versus its Canadian counterpart as oil prices fell. The buck rose to a yearly high of C$1.0635. There was little movement near Y76.50 versus the yen. The pair has been stuck there for months, since the dollar hit a record low 75.94. Eurozone finance ministers have decided to put off the decision on the next loan installment for Greece, worth EUR 8 billion, until the troika report on the country's progress with the fiscal targets is ready. Eurogroup President Jean-Claude Juncker said early Tuesday that a Eurogroup meeting, tentatively scheduled for October 13 to decide on the next loan tranche for Greece, has been canceled as the troika report will not be ready by then. Europe's banks are seen taking a significant hit if Greece must restructure, and ratings agency S&P now sees a 40 percent chance of a double-dip European recession. "We now estimate the probability of a new recession in western Europe next year at about 40%, although in our baseline forecast we continue to anticipate sluggish and unevenly distributed growth in the coming five quarters," said Jean-Michel Six, Standard & Poor's chief European economist. (Oct 4, 2011) Full Article Political News Poll Shows Cain Benefits From Sharp Drop In Support For Perry Another poll has shown Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain jumping into the top tier in the race for the GOP nomination, with the former pizza magnate benefiting from a drop in support for Texas Gov. Rick Perry. While the Washington Post-ABC News poll showed that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is leading the race with 25 percent support, the poll also showed that support for Cain has jumped to 16 percent from 4 percent in early September. (Oct 4, 2011) Full Article Christie Confirms He Will Not Run For President In 2012 Despite intense pressure from certain circles, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie reiterated Tuesday that he will not run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012. While Christie said that the number of people encouraging him to run led him to reconsider, he ultimately came back to the same conclusion. "Now is not my time. I have a commitment to the people of New Jersey that I simply will not abandon," Christie said. (Oct 4, 2011) Full Article |
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