The Trusted Choice for the Wall Street Voice http://www.minyanville.com 2007 Minyanville Publishing and Multimedia, LLC. All Rights Reserved “We believe that the credit rating agencies in exchange for fees departed from their objective neutral role as arbiters. At minimum they were aiding and abetting misconduct by issuers.”-- Richard Cordray Ohio attorney general on filing suit against Moody’s Standard & Poor’s and Fitch (MHP)“Trust dies but mistrust blossoms.”-- Sophocles***“F.H.A. financing was a lost language in San Francisco the real-estate equivalent of Aramaic. Once the limits were raised smart buyers started calling.”-- Michael Ackerman a Bay Area real-estate agent“Give me a smart idiot over a stupid genius any day.”-- Samuel Goldwyn***“I love this show. This show has been my ... http://www.minyanville.com/articles/index/a/25573 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:30:00 EST All day and every day some of the stock market's best and brightest traders and money managers share their ideas insights and analysis in real-time on Minyanville's Buzz & Banter. Check out some of the best of the buzz and for those minyans not currently subscribed  click here for a free two-week trial. Note: Some links may require Buzz subscriptions.Monday November 16 2009Battle of the IndexesSmita SadanaAfter dwelling on the NASDAQ for the past many days it is time for a change. Let me share what I believe is the most significant thing on my trading radar.If we have been in sync you ... http://www.minyanville.com/articles/index/a/25553 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:20:00 EST Next week the volume will dry up as traders head out to stuff themselves for the Thanksgiving holiday. With the market close Thursday and a half day on Friday economic data will be packed into the first three days of the week. Traders will be watching GDP and Consumer Confidence on Tuesday and then Wednesday Michigan Sentiment Durable Orders and New Home Sales will affect trading. Expect Friday to be super slow as traders nurse their Turkey hangovers. Monday November 23Economics 10:00 Existing Home Sales 5.65m cons. Earnings Before: JOBS BJS CPB LDK TSNAfter: ADI ATW CTRN HPQ NUANAuctions11:30 3-Month ... http://www.minyanville.com/articles/index/a/25570 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:30:00 EST Airlines say it’s the right time to fly touting cheap fares and less crowding but special holiday fees could keep travelers grounded on Turkey Day and well into next year. The Air Transport Association an industry trade group released data Friday that showed that 3% fewer people took to the skies during the month of October despite ticket prices being down 12.5% year-over-year. This pushed passenger revenue down for the 12th straight month.The data which was based on a random sampling of the member airlines showed current prices to be on par to prices during the 1998 traveling season ... http://www.minyanville.com/articles/index/a/25571 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:45:00 EST More than most the PR department at Goldman Sachs (GS) must be looking forward to the weekend: It just spent the last few days getting pummeled like Apollo Creed. Today the hits kept right on coming. The Wall Street Journal reports this morning that shareholders in Goldman have asked the bank to slice the size of its bonus pool arguing that the firm should pass along more of its earnings to investors.“The investors hold tens of millions of shares in Goldman Sachs which is on track to make the biggest employee payout in the firm's 140-year history ” the ... http://www.minyanville.com/articles/index/a/25568 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:45:00 EST What can a state government do to decrease energy consumption among a population that has doubled since 1970 but maintains the lowest per-capita rate of electricity use in the country? That's right: Place restrictions on a major industry resulting in a whopping annual savings of $30 per household and possibly the loss of countless jobs. This week the California Energy Commission approved a guideline to limit the energy consumed by televisions up to 58-inches in screen size -- affecting brands such as Panasonic (PC) Sony (SNE) and Philips (PHG). Going into effect on January 1 2011 the measure will ... http://www.minyanville.com/articles/index/a/25569 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:45:00 EST Hewlett-Packard’s (HPQ) fourth-quarter earnings reflect its continued effort to expand through acquisition and deliver end-to-end data services.The company is scheduled to release earnings Monday after the market close. A conference call will be held at 5 p.m. Eastern Time.In a pre-announcement Hewlett-Packard said it expects to earn $0.99 a share compared with a profit of $0.84 for the same period a year ago. Excluding one-time charges the company said it would have earned $1.14 a share or $0.01 above the consensus estimate.Earlier this month Hewlett-Packard said it had agreed to buy 3Com (COMS) a networking equipment maker for $2.7 ... http://www.minyanville.com/articles/index/a/25567 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:30:00 EST 1. The Ever-Sensational Looming Global Economic CollapseThe word came down hard and fast late Wednesday evening "Société Générale has advised clients to be ready for a possible 'global economic collapse' over the next two years mapping a strategy of defensive investments to avoid wealth destruction." The headline was a bit more direct "Société Générale tells clients how to prepare for  'global collapse'." Later it was revised to include the word "potential " forming a more modest warning. But really the cat was already out of the bag. From there it took little time for mainstream US media outlets to ... http://www.minyanville.com/articles/index/a/25564 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:45:00 EST Should Goldman Sachs (GS) pay its vaunted legions of bankers and traders less money?According to the Wall Street Journal some of the dominant global investment bank's major shareholders are answering that question with a big fat “YES!”Wall Street pay is a hot issue on Main Street these days. With all that's happened over the past few years with the stock housing and job markets the consensus among regular Americans is that the economy just sucks and probably won't get any better.And who better to hate than an investment bank that pays its employees more than $700 000 a year ... http://www.minyanville.com/articles/index/a/25566 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST It’s Friday and I am just itching for the weekend. On the agenda: my oldest daughter’s soccer game a family get-together and plans to sleep in at least one day. Chances are I might hit Blockbuster (BBI) as well.Asian stocks sank overnight. The Hang Seng and the Nikkei were off 0.83% and 0.54% respectively. European stocks however were in positive territory early this morning. And here in the US we're currently trading lower.Here’s what I’m seeing this fine Friday morning:Intel (INTC):The chipmaker took a real pummeling yesterday and on some heavy volume. The Bank of America-Merrill news certainly didn’t ... http://www.minyanville.com/articles/index/a/25565 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:35:00 EST This holiday season J.C. Penney (JCP) CEO and Chairman Myron E. Ullman III is armed with a lineup of exclusive fashion brands he helped bring to the department store chain and he's ready to battle key rivals like Macy's (M). During more than two decades in retailing Ullman has seen a slew of competitors go out of business and -- as Macy's CEO in the early 1990s -- even succumbed to a hostile takeover bid from Federated Department Stores. But he says nothing presented the kinds of challenges that Penney's and other stores face now. He believes this recession has permanently ... http://www.minyanville.com/articles/index/a/25561 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:00:00 EST They call it the "Botax." The White House and Senate Democrats have turned to a proposal to tax breast implants tummy tucks wrinkle-smoothing injections and other procedures as they search for ways to pay for costly health care overhaul plans. Vanity was an easy target as lawmakers scraped for cash for the nearly $1 trillion plan to expand health care to millions of Americans who lack insurance. But it's no joke to the drug makers and people who perform the cosmetic nips and tucks. And they're fighting back. Skin-smoothing Botox injections could be hard-hit. There were some 4.7 million ... http://www.minyanville.com/articles/index/a/25560 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:40:00 EST Editor's Note: This article was written by Richard Suttmeier chief market strategist at ValuEngine.com which is a fundamentally-based quant research firm in Princeton New Jersey that covers more than 5 000 stocks every day.The Economy Is in Recession As Long As Jobless Claims Are Above 350 000You remember how I tracked the 350 000 threshold in mid-2008? We were already in recession then.Even Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke admits that the economy is still losing jobs albeit at a slower pace but not at a pace to raise the federal funds rate. He repeatedly says that rates will stay low for ... http://www.minyanville.com/articles/index/a/25563 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:30:00 EST For Citibank credit card holders there is one way to escape the bank's rate hikes currently under way: Meet a monthly spending requirement. Those who meet the spending minimum -- in some cases $750 a month -- will be able to get a rebate on their total interest charges for that month. The rebate could cover some or all of the interest rate hike. Customers also need to make payments on time to qualify for the rebate. Without giving specifics Citi (C) said the monthly spending requirements and interest rate hikes will vary depending on the cardholder's credit history. About half of ... http://www.minyanville.com/articles/index/a/25559 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:20:00 EST If we've learned one thing this week it's that pre-anticipating pins rarely works well. See Reviewing Four Tech Stock Pins.Even with yesterday's mini excitement it's still not a volatile week. Yet of the stocks we've highlighted this week most flipped toward a strike that looked unlikely as recently as Tuesday night. And keep in mind it's not like we crashed SPY was down all of 1.27% yesterday. But we're not here to talk about the past. It's time to start pre-anticipating December volatility carnage! Well maybe. I noted the other day that when I ran numbers for my book December ... http://www.minyanville.com/articles/index/a/25556 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:15:00 EST