Trader Talk
- HMOs Up Despite Looming House Vote
- What The Street Thinks of The Jobless Report
- Friday It's All About Jobs, Jobs, Jobs
- October Retail Sales—The Good, Bad and Ugly?
- When Good News = Good News
- Retail And Jobs Lift Mood
- October Retail Sales—Early Buzz is Strong
- Traders Digest Election Results
- Whitney's Vision For The New Normal
- Railroads And Buffett
TRADER TALK RSS FEED
MOST SHARED
- US Becomes Top Country Brand Under Obama: Survey
- Sweeping Health Care Overhaul Bill Passes House
- BofA Board in Civil War Over Lewis' Succesor
- GE, Comcast Agree on NBC Universal Valuation: Report
- What Stocks to Buy Amid Health Care Overhaul: Strategist
- Kraft to Formalize Hostile Cadbury Bid on Monday
- Want the Homebuyer's Tax Credit? Here Are Some Tips
- Tamminen: Why Does Oklahoma Want To Drown New York?
- Food Network, HGTV Drive Scripps Networks' Upside Surprise
- Tommy Lee, Medical Tourism and Nasty Santa, Your Emails
- U.S. Markets Gain 3% for the Week Despite 10.2% Unemployment
- Disney's 'Carol' Tests Widest 3-D Release Ever
- Stimulus II? Jobs Tax Credit=Cash For Clunkers
- Rockwell Automation Earnings: What Options Are Saying
- Gold Will Touch Higher Lows and Higher Highs: Analyst
- Is Misery Alive And Well in Your Office?
- Kraft to Formalize Hostile Cadbury Bid on Monday
- GE, Comcast Agree on NBC Universal Valuation
- US Health Care Reforms Face Tough Path in Senate
- Obama Delays Start of Asia Trip to Attend Memorial
- China Urges US to Control Deficit to Stabilize Dollar
- BofA Board in Civil War Over Lewis' Succesor
- US Home Values Follow Sales Higher, For Some
- Hottest Zip Codes for Home Prices
- Week Ahead: Stocks Search for Catalyst in Quiet Week
Text Size 
Reporter
New highs brings little excitement. The S&P 500 and the NASDAQ are sitting at highs for the year, but why doesn't it feel like it? Is it the light volume, the low volatility?
A little of both, but the reason it doesn't feel exciting is ... the rally is getting narrower and narrower. We're down to commodity and techs; that's it. Banks? Nothing for a month. Pharma/consumer: sideways to slightly down.
Bonds are higher after 1) the Japanese prime minister said his confidence in the dollar was "unshakable," and 2) The WSJ front page says it's unlikely the Fed will unlikely boost the size of their asset purchases beyond what's already in place. That's helping to send are sending yields to their lowest level of the week.
Elsewhere:
1) Barclays sold Barclays Global Investors to Blackrock [BLK
Loading...
()
] for $13.5 billion, about half in cash and half in Blackrock stock. Because Barclays will retain a 19.9 percent economic interest in the combined entity, Bank of America's [BAC
Loading...
()
] stake in Blackrock will decline to about 34 percent from 47 percent and PNC's [PNC
Loading...
()
] stake will fall to 24.6 percent from 32 percent.
The good news is that this will add significantly to Barclays capital base; the bad news is that they are selling their crown jewel. BGI was a pioneer in the ETF business through its iShares, which continues to expand rapidly.
Blackrock now becomes a truly big, global player in investment management services. John Varley, Barclays Group CEO, and Bob Diamond, Barclays Group President, are being nominated to the board of Blackrock.
2) Hartford Financial [HIG
Loading...
()
] trading down 2 percent pre-open following its announcement of accepting $3.4 billion in TARP money. The property & casualty insurer said it will raise additional capital through a $750 million stock sale.
Maria's Blog: Hartford Financial CEO On His Retirement
TARP Repayments to Start Next Week: Report
3) Semiconductor manufacturer National Semiconductor [NSM
Loading...
()
] is down 1 percent pre-open despite posting Q4 results that beat analyst estimates. Just like Texas Instruments [TXN
Loading...
()
] earlier this week, the company noted improvement in business conditions, with "increasing orders from our wireless handset customers."
In its first quarter outlook, the company sees revenues between $285 million-$305 million, above the consensus forecast of $282 million.
_____________________________
_____________________________
Questions? Comments?
- HMOs Up Despite Looming House Vote
- What The Street Thinks of The Jobless Report
- Friday It's All About Jobs, Jobs, Jobs
- October Retail Sales—The Good, Bad and Ugly?
- When Good News = Good News
- Retail And Jobs Lift Mood
- October Retail Sales—Early Buzz is Strong
- Traders Digest Election Results
- Whitney's Vision For The New Normal
- Railroads And Buffett
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes