In honor of John McAfee, who spoke to our own Jeff Pohlman today while he is trying to stay one step ahead of the law in Belize.
John McAfee | Facebook
Market Musings Of Guest Guru Joe Evangelista
Recap: Dow -58.9 (-0.46%) at 12756.18, S& -5.5 (-0.4%) at 1374.53, Nasdaq -20.37 (-0.7%) at 2883.89.
Microsoft drops 3.2% in the wake of Sinofsky's departure, taking the Dow Industrials near its 66-point low for the session by the close. MSFT responsible for nearly 9 points of the Dow's loss. Caterpillar responsible for dragging the Dow down 14-pts on the heels of its downgrade by JPMorgan . CAT down 2.25% in the regular session. Home Depot providing a bright spot; HD climbing 3.6%, responsible for a 17-point gain on the Dow after the home improvement retailer raised its outlook.
Cisco Systems' better than expected Q1 earnings and Q2 outlook after the bell could give stocks a nice boost at the open. CSCO up 7% after hours.
The Dow Industrials and Nasdaq Composite on a 2-day losing streak… falling to their lowest levels since July 25. The S&P 500 clocking its worst level since August 2.
Top Stories
Geithner Talks about The Fiscal Cliff/MarketWatch: Geithner speaks to WSJ's David Wessel. He sounded optimistic about the cliff, saying it was a "solve-able problem" and that it was "deeply implausible" that the Repubs would reject a deal over objections to upper income tax hikes. He was encouraged that GOP leaders were supporting raising revenues. He also launched a salvo against the idea of that you can raise enough revenue without raising taxes—i.e. by just closing loopholes. "There's a lot of magical thinking about how much you can raise from tax expenditures, to do enough to restore fiscal sustainability and not adding to the burden on middle-class Americans," he said.
Yellen: Fed May Change How It Signals Markets/WSJ: Under a new approach being considered by senior officials, the Fed would state how high inflation would have to rise, or how low unemployment would have to fall, before they start raising short-term interest rates, which have been near zero since late 2008. "Several of my [Fed] colleagues have advocated such an approach, and I am also strongly supportive," Janet Yellen, the Fed's vice-chairwoman, said in remarks prepared for delivery Tuesday at the University of California, Berkeley.
Dallas Fed's Fisher on Kudlow Report/CNBC: He told Larry we need to completely reboot tax policy, and Congress must address the fiscal cliff and debt now. But the best bite was that "there is a limit to what we (the fed) can do. We can't just have what I call a Buzz Lightyear Monetary Policy- To Infinity and Beyond!"
Zynga CFO to Facebook/CNBC: The social gaming company announced that chief accounting officer Mark Vranesh has been appointed as CFO. Vranesh succeeds David Wehner, who is leaving the company to pursue a senior position at Facebook . In addition, the company reaffirmed its 2012 outlook. Shares were unchanged in extended-hours trading.
Is AMD for Sale? Not today/Reuters: Here's what happened: Reuters reported that AMD hired JPMorgan to explore possible sale of company or assets. Stock goes up 16%, then falls back somewhat, closing up 5%. Then AMD denied the reports after the bell, so the stock fell 2.39%. End of story. Maybe.
Cisco Beats, Nudges Guidance Up/CNBC: The networking equipment company earned 48 cents a share, excluding one-time items, on sales of $11.88 billion, topping expectations for 46 cents a share on revenue of $11.77 billion. In addition, the tech bellwether handed in current quarter earnings guidance of between 47 cents a share and 48 cents a share, versus forecasts for 47 cents a share. The company also said it expects revenue to grow between 3.5 percent and 5.5 percent from year-ago levels. Stock up 7.24% ATB.
McAfee to CNBC: I've been accused of something I didn't do. I've been moving every 4 hours. I am fearful for my safety
LIPA COO Resigns, effective end of the year/LIPA Statement: Today, Mike Hervey, tendered his resignation as Chief Operating Officer of the Long Island Power Authority, to be effective at the end of the year. On behalf of the Board of Trustees I have accepted his resignation, with regret. Mike has provided 12 years of valuable service to LIPA, including taking on the responsibility to perform the functions of CEO of the organization over the past two years. Mike has played a leadership role in connection with the planned structural changes at LIPA going forward which will result in better service and accountability to LIPA's customers in the years ahead.
Earnings
Before the Bell: Abercrombie & Fitch (expected), Mobile Telesystems (10a cc), Staples (8a cc), Tyco (8a cc), Vimpelcom (approx. 1a, 8a cc)
After the Bell: Limited Brands (9a Thu cc), NetApp (5p cc), Net Ease (8a Thu cc), Williams-Sonoma (5p cc)
Economic Data Consensus Previous
830 Oct Retail Sales -0.1% 1.1%
--ex auto 0.2% 1.1%
830 Oct PPI 0.2% 1.1%
---ex food & energy 0.1% 0.0%
1000 Sep Business Inventories 0.5% 0.6%
1400 FOMC Minutes
Key Guests
Austan Goolsbee, Fmr, Council of Economic Advisers Chmn (4am)
Maury Harris, UBS Investment Research, Chief U.S. Economist (5:30am)
Paul Ballew, Dun & Bradstreet Chief Global Economist (6:10am)
Barbara Reinhard, Credit Suisse, Managing Director (6:10am)
Willilam Muggia, Portfolio Manager Touchstone Emerging Growth Fund (7:15)
Charles Fabrikant, Chairman, SEACOR Holdings (7:40am)
Mark Siegel, Managing Director, Menlo Ventures (8:10am)
Lanhee Chen, Policy Director Romney for President (10am)
Scott Wren, Chief Equity Strategist, Wells Fargo Advisors (10am)
Tobias Levkovich, Chief U.S Equity Strategist Citi (10am)
Dennis Van Roekel, President National Education Association (11am)
Harry Clark, CEO Clark Capital Management (11:20am)
Peter Diamandis, CEO X Prize Foundation, Zero (11:45am)
Michael Murphy, CEO Rosecliff Capital (12pm)
Nicholas Calio, CEO Airlines for America (1pm)
Rep. Davaid Schweikert (R) Arizona, Congressman (1pm)
John Hickenlooper, (D) Colorado, Governor (2pm)
Neil Hennessy, CIO, Hennessy Funds (3pm)
George Roberts, Founder, KKR (3:10pm)
Hubert Joly, CEO Best Buy (3:30pm)
Walt Bettinger, CEO The Charles Schwab Corp. (4:10pm)
Mazin Jadallah, CEO AlphaClone (4:50pm)
Terry Branstad (R) Iowa Governor (7:30pm)
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