Wellpoint has been rising on takeover speculation.  It may be tough for it to move much as it has alot of overhead reisitance to break thru.

We were stopped out of Encore Capital at $19.30 on Friday. 

Same story with VMware.

Akamai continues to move higher in a poor market.  Once again the stock was higher early on Friday then succombed to the pressure late.  Good looking stock.

Stocks on sale....

Salesforce.com made a new high intraday, but sold off late to close right at its previous breakout level below $90.

Selling Overblown....

After a somewhat weaker jobs report, traders sent the market much lower today.  To me the selling was not justified, it seemed more like a panic selloff.  We are now back at the level we saw in the "flash crash" last month.
The selloff gives some discount prices to enter some leading stocks in here. Over the weekend, I'll give you some stocks to look at.  Have a nice weekend.

How bad is this Oil Spill...

The general consensus that the BP (BP) oil spill is the worst-ever environmental disaster is "wildly overblown," a University of Alabama professor says. The amount spilled is tiny in comparison to the amount spilled by rigs and tankers around the world every year, he says, and it's not even the worst spill ever in the Gulf of Mexico.

Noon Update....

Stocks lower following disappointing jobs report.  Traders clearly wanted to take the market lower and sure enough...

Dow -212
Nas -41
S&P -22

Dell may go private....

DELL – Michael Dell remarked late in trading on Thurs at the Bernstein Conf that he has considered taking the company private; Dell says "not necessarily" a high probability that company would do a big acquisition.

Start Buying Natural Gas stocks....

Clean Energy – Majority Leader Reid says the Senate will start debating a comprehensive clean energy bill next month.

Earnings due next week...

Mon June 7: earnings after the close (FCEL, CWST)

Tues June 8: earnings before the open (DG, TLB); earnings after the close (TTWO, PLL),

Wed June 9: earnings before the open (RGEN, MTN, CIEN, BFB).
Earnings after the close (SHFL, MW).

Thurs June 10: earnings before the open (LULU, DLM);
earnings after the close (NSM, FNSR, ARST)

The latest on BP's efforts...

BP – the co said it has successfully placed a containment cap on the oil well; the coast guard said "It will be some time before we can confirm that this method will work and to what extent it will mitigate the release of oil into the environment,"; once the cap is fully in place, the plan is to start funneling some of the crude to a ship on the surface.

Analyst Downgrades...

• Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (ANF) price target cut to $41 from $44; rating neutral at UBS

• Aflac Inc. (AFL) price target cut to $48 from $58; ratng neutral at UBS

• Suntech Power (STP) price target cut to $9 from $16; rating market weight at Thomas Weisel

• Walgreen Co. (WAG) price target cut to $36 from $40; rating hold at Jefferies

ULTA on a roll....

Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. (ULTA). The company on Thursday posted a higher-than-expected first-quarter profit, helped by improved merchandise margins, and the company forecast strong second-quarter results. The company posted first-quarter net income of 23 cents a share, compared with 8 cents a share, a year ago.

Ulta Salon sees second-quarter adjusted profit between 19 cents and 21 cents a share, on net sales of $311 million to $317 million.  Analysts were expecting earnings of 15 cents a share on revenue of $308.1 million.

It's national donut day!!!

Krispy Kreme giving away one free donut of your choice...

McDonald's recalls glasses....

McDonald's (MCD) recalls 12M "Shrek"-themed drinking glasses after discovering the cups contain the toxic metal cadmium. Cadmium is a known carcinogen that can cause bone softening and severe kidney problems.

Steel stocks hard to figure....

Goldman drops U.S. Steel (X) from its Conviction Buy list, citing a trio of negatives: weak European credit markets; a Chinese tightening; and now the Gulf oil crisis. The downgrade is Goldman's fifth switch on X during 2010 - as good a read as any on this year's economic uncertainty.

Jobs report disappointing...

Stock futures dive following strong but disappointing jump in payrolls. The key disappointment was in private payrolls, strategist T.J. Marta says. "While we did get the census hiring, the private economy is not hiring the way we would have liked." Census hirings accounted for 411K of the 431K new jobs reported.

This could hurt blackberry and Iphone subscribers...

AT&T shifts away from unlimited data plans. AT&T (T) announced yesterday that it will no longer sell unlimited internet data plans to new customers with smartphones and iPads (AAPL), opting instead for usage-based pricing that charges heavy bandwidth users more. Analysts said the move will bring some much-needed common sense to the wireless industry, and likely marks the beginning of the end for unlimited data plans.

VMware (VMW)...

Looks like a twin of CRM...

Salesforce.com (CRM)...

Pretty nice looking chart here.....

Market closes slightly higher...

Market recap: Stocks bounced around and finally ended in marginally positive territory in cautious trading ahead of tomorrow's jobs report. The major averages were boosted by a continued rebound in the tech and energy sectors, and NYSE advancers outnumbered decliners by about three to two.

At the close:

Dow +5.74
Nas +21.96
S&P +4.45

BP making progress....

BP (BP) says it achieves an "important milestone" on shearing a pipe from the blown-out Gulf well and that it could take 12-24 hours to determine success in capping the wellhead.

Bad news for drillers...

MMS stops issuing permits for new oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico regardless of water depth, effectively extending the earlier suspension of permits for deepwater drilling into shallow waters.

I need to get in the Govt. Contacting business...

Apart from Boeing's (BA) $1.7B contract to work on the FAA's GPS-based "NextGen" air traffic control system, another $2.5B is yet to be awarded on two more contracts. The program has a $7B ceiling - largest ever for the FAA - and General Dynamics (GD) and ITT (ITT) won contracts last week as well.

Mortgage Rates still low....

Mortgage rates were little changed from last week, Freddie Mac reports, with 30-year fixed-rate loans sitting at 4.79% with 0.8 points, vs. a year-ago 5.29%.

Bad news for commodities...

CEOs of Freeport-McMoran (FCX -2.4%) and Codelco say China’s plans to curb its economy threaten to reduce copper demand, further lowering commodities prices that have already slumped on Europe's economic concerns. China is a "risk to the world’s marketplace in the near term," FCX's Adkerson says, but its inflation fight "will likely lead to a more sustainable situation going forward."

Fed almost ready to start raising rates...

The U.S. economy is almost strong enough to allow the Fed to begin raising interest rates, but we're not quite there yet, Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart says. "As the economy continues to improve and financial markets find firmer ground, extraordinarily low policy rates will not be needed to promote recovery and will become inconsistent with maintaining price stability."

Might be a good time to lock in a mortgage or car loan.

Kindle to go on sale at Target this Sunday...

Starting Sunday, feel free to pick up a Kindle (AMZN) at your local Target (TGT). Until now, the e-reader was only available through Amazon's website but the company is looking to get an edge on competition from the iPad (AAPL), Nook (BKS), Sony Reader (SNE),

Market rallies to close higher...

The stock market rebounded today after a jump in pending home sales raised optimism about the economy.

The gains Wednesday allowed stocks to recover the losses from the day before, when the government announced investigations into the Gulf oil spill. A rebound in energy stocks led the way.

The National Association of Realtors' index of contracts for home purchases rose 6 percent in April as buyers raced to secure a tax credit.

The Dow Jones industrials rose 226 points to 10,250, the third biggest gain of 2010. The Standard & Poor's 500 index is up 28 at 1,098. The Nasdaq composite index is up 59 at 2,281.

Five stocks rose for every one that fell on New York Stock Exchange. Volume totaled 1.4 billion shares, in line with Tuesday.

Noon Update....

Nice rally so far this mornin, however, we re just making back what was taken away in the last 30 minutes on Tuesday....Commodities and Tech leads the way.

Dow +99.69
Nas +30.03
S&P +13.42

Goldman thinks Monsanto is washed out...

Goldman Sachs upgrades Monsanto (MON) to Conviction Buy from Neutral. Monsanto has been the second-worst performing stock in the S&P 500 this year, but "bad news is exhausted" and investor sentiment is bottoming.

Wednesday's Economic Calendar...

May Auto sales
7:00 MBA Mortgage Applications
7:30 Challenger Job-Cut Report
7:45 ICSC Retail Store Sales
8:30 Hearing: Credit Ratings Credibility
8:55 Redbook Chain Store Sales
10:00 Pending Home Sales

Obama targets RIG...

Transocean Ltd. (RIG). Obama administration on Tuesday sought to challenge the company’s bid to limit its liability for its role in the gushing oil well it drilled in the Gulf of Mexico for BP Plc (BP).

Monsanto and Dow reach license agreement...

Monsanto Co. (MON). The company and Dow Chemicals’ (DOW) Dow agrosciences on Wednesday reached a new licensing agreement on Roundup ready 2 Yield soybean technology. Under the agreement Monsanto grants Dow AgroSciences a non-exclusive, royalty-bearing license in U.S. to develop, produce, sell and sublicense seed and germplasm with Roundup Ready 2 Yield technology.

Jos.A Bank reports impressive earnings...

JoS A Bank Clothiers Inc. (JOSB). The men's apparel and accessories retailer on Wednesday reported an increase in its first-quarter earnings and sales. The company reported earnings of 85 cents a share, an increase of 37 percent from 62 cents a share, from a year ago period. The company’s total sales for the quarter increased 10 percent to $178.1 million.

Google sets sights on Microsoft Windows..

Google Inc. (GOOG). The web search group expects to release its Chrome computer operating system in the "late fall", a top executive said on Wednesday, as it aims a competitive strike at rival Microsoft's (MSFT) Windows. The Chrome system will designed initially to work on laptop PCs.

BP tries to reassure investors...

BP Plc (BP). The oil major forged ahead with its latest effort to curb the flow of oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday. And also the company will seek to patch up its battered share price by reassuring investors the cost of cleaning up the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is manageable and will not affect dividends.

Steve Jobs comments on Foxconn deaths...

Apple Inc. (AAPL). The company’s CEO Steve Jobs finds "troubling" a string of worker deaths at Foxconn, the contract manufacturer that assembles the company's iPhones and iPads, but said its factory in China "is not a sweatshop."

Amgen gets approval for osteoporosis drug...

Amgen Inc. (AMGN). U.S. FDA approved on Tuesday the sale of the company’s osteoporosis drug Prolia to help prevent fractures in post-menopausal women just days after the medicine received European approval. Amgen said the drug will be available within the next two weeks and cost $825 per 60 milligram injection based on wholesale acquisition cost.

Market Breadth Numbers...

Market Recap...

Market recap: Stocks moved sharply lower in the final hour of trading after staying in positive territory for most of the session, as BP's (BP -15%) woes dragged down the energy sector and new Middle East tensions added to the late selloff. Decliners led advancers on the NYSE by nearly five to one.

Tenet Healthcare looking at Healthscope...

Tenet Healthcare (THC) confirms it is discussing a potential acquisition of Healthscope, Australia's second-largest private hospital company.

BP still trying...

BP (BP) is in the middle of a major pipe cut to attempt to contain the Gulf oil spill, the Coast Guard says, contradicting reports that the company had curtailed efforts to end flow from the well. BP says its "top kill" attempt to seal the well may have failed due to a ruptured disk inside the well.

Lunchtime Update....

Lunchtime Update:

Dow +40.73
Nas +1.50
S&P -1.20

Winners:

AAPL +7.40
GOOG +3.50

Losers:

RIG -4.40
BP -5.11
APC -7.55

Keep an eye on Synaptics...

SYNA - Synaptics is demonstrating its newest touch technology branded as TouchPad-IS at COMPUTEX 2010. The company claims is the first "fully capable, multi-finger PC touchpad. The new touchpad can accurately recognize four-finger gestures and demonstrate demonstrate Synaptics SmartSense technology, which prevents activation of the cursor when you accidentally touch it.

Nvidia favors Google's Android OS....

In Computer World magazine, NVDA says Google’s Android will become the OS of choice for tablets; Windows is too large and feature-rich for smartphones according to NVDA.

Amazon working on new version of Kindle....

AMZN - Amazon.com in August will unveil a thinner version of its Kindle electronic-book reader, with a screen that turns pages faster and has a sharper display; the co is also hard at work on a color-screen version and one w/touch responses.

This weekend's IBD additions and deletions....

IBD 100 List:

Additions - TPX, TSCO, PVH, JOSB, JCG, WHR, PNRA.

Deletions - ULTA, FDO, ANN, ROST, IMAX, CAKE, BBBY.

Earnings this week....

Tues June 1:
After the close (LGF, PSS, SNDA).

Wed June 2:
Before open (DAKT, SCVL, CSIQ); After the close (HOV)

Thurs June 3:
Before the open (STP, CHRS, AGYS, JOYG, UTIW, JOSB, AHO)
After the close (SNIC, CMTL, ZQK, SAI, KKD, COO)

Fri June 4:
Before the open (CMED)

Boeing wins Russian order....

Boeing (BA). The aircraft maker has won an order from a Russian state company for up to 65 planes, nearly half its net order level for 2009, beating European rival Airbus and a Russian manufacturer.

Blackstone set to buy out the Shack...

Blackstone Group LP (BX). The private equity firm has emerged as a leading participant to buy electronics retailer RadioShack Corp (RSH) after an initial round of bids were completed last week, the New York Post said, citing sources familiar with the matter.

RadioShack is up over $1 premarket to $21.50

Astra Zeneca suffers slight setback...

AstraZeneca (AZN). The Anglo-Swedish drugmaker’s drive to extend the life of its blockbuster acid reflux drug Nexium through new uses was set back on Tuesday after U.S. regulators delayed approval of a drug combining it with aspirin. Nexium faces the loss of patent protection in key markets and the company is developing novel formulations to extend its franchise.

Top Kill efforts fail....

BP (BP) is sliding over 10% premarket after its weekend announcement that 'top kill' efforts had failed. Its next attempt to stem the Gulf of Mexico leak, using robots, could end up making the leak worse and a permanent fix is still months away.

HP to cut 3,000 jobs...

According to their 8-K filing, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) is cutting a net of 3,000 jobs and taking a $1B charge.

IPad sales reach 2 Million....

Sales of Apple's (AAPL) iPad have topped two million in less than sixty days, exceeding the sales rate for the company's Mac laptops and desktops and for the original iPhone, though falling short of the sales rate for the iPhone 3G. The news could prompt analysts to upwardly revise their sales projections, giving an already buoyant stock a further lift.

Market Breadth Numbers...

Things were going well on Friday until the announcement of Spain's debt downgrade. Alot of nervous nellies out there.

Ideas for the weekend: ULTA

Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance, Inc. operates as a retailer of prestige, mass and solon products in the united States. The company was founded in 1990, operates 346 stores in 36 states and has a market cap of $1.35 billion.

Shares of ULTA gapped open higher on March 11 after the company reported Q4 results that eclipsed expectations. Revenue for the quarter was up 16% from last year to $396.4 million. Earnings also came in strong at 34 cents, 13% ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate. The company has surprised in each of the last four quarters by an average of 4 cents, or 53%.

Ulta gained in a couple of key categories, with operating income up 60% to $34 million and same-store sales up 6.2%. Free cash flow was $105 million.

Looking forward Ulta is ready to capitalize on its upward momentum, with plans to open 46 stores, remodel 13 and relocate 6 in 2010.

Estimates Jump
Estimates have been on the rise for the last few months, with the current year adding 15 cents to 85 cents. The next-year estimate is up 23 cents to $1.04, a solid 22% growth projection.

Netapp, Inc.

NetApp is seen riding a wave of growing corporate IT spending, including stronger demand for data storage products as companies embrace cloud computing which allows businesses to access computing power through a network instead of in-house data centers.

Companies are also embracing virtualization which enables them to tap disparate computer systems on their premises or in hosted data centers as one network and use that computing capacity based on needs.

NetApp reported fiscal fourth-quarter income of $145.1 million, or 40 cents a share, compared with a profit of $68.4 million, or 21 cents a share, for the year-earlier period. Revenue rose to $1.17 billion from $879.6 million. Adjusted income was 50 cents a share.

SXC Health Solutions

SXC Health Solutions

•The company logged some triple-digit earnings growth gains last year. Earnings growth has slowed in recent quarters, but at 34% last quarter it's still above the 25% minimum typically seen in winning growth stocks.

•Sales growth has accelerated during the past two quarters, which is a positive.

•For the full year, analysts see earnings rising just 8%, so that's something to factor in. And they predict earnings will rise 30% next year.

Market closes lower ahead of long weekend....

Stocks closed out their worst May since 1962 by sliding again on more unsettling news about Europe.

Closing numbers:

Dow -122.36
Nas -20.64
S&P - 13.65

What You Talkin' About Willis???

Gary Coleman, the child star of the TV sitcom Diff'rent Strokes, died Friday after suffering an intercranial hemorrhage. He was 42.  Utah Valley Regional Medical Center spokeswoman Janet Frank says life support was terminated and Coleman died at 12:05 p.m.  Coleman was hospitalized Wednesday after falling and suffering a head injury at his home south of Salt Lake City, according to family members.

Truly one of the classic TV characters of all time....

Fitch Downgrades Spain Debt....

This shouldn't be any real surprise, but the Dow sold off over 100 points in 5 minutes as this news hit the wire.  Traders are really whipping this market around.  There is no conviction, it seems...so it's probably best at this point to ignore it and just go home for the weekend.

At 1:15 pm:

Dow -99
Nas -24
S&P -11

Time Warner (TWX) needs to be more aggressive...

The WSJ’s Heard on the Street thinks that Time Warner needs to be more aggressive in packaging its digital entertainment; for example – creating a subscription only model for HBO in order to compete with NFLX.

Rough Hurrican Season Forecast....

US warns of worst hurricane season since 2005 – The Atlantic storm season could be the most intense since 2005 when Hurricane Katrina killer over 1,000 people and disrupted oil production in the Gulf, according to the NOAA. The NOAA is forecasting 14-23 named storms, of which 8-14 could develop into hurricanes, close to 2005’s record of 15.

Does this include all the Oil spilling into the Gulf???

OPEC crude-oil output rose to a 17 month high in May according to a Bloomberg survey. Production rose 187K barrels.

Dow on Pace for Worst May in 48 years....

Dow on pace for worst May since 1962


May action:
 
DJIA -6.80%
SP500 -7.10%
Nas -7.46%,

Latest numbers show outflows out of equity funds...

Fund Flows - US equity funds (including ETFs) saw sharp outflows again this week of -$13.7b, the second consecutive week of large outflows. The large outflows over the past two weeks totaling -$21.2b have wiped out most of the inflows over the prior 13 weeks; Excluding the impact of ETFs, the outflows were still significant at -$4.2b

After an Hour of Trading.....

Dow -33.79
Nas -4.38
S&P -2.84

Gainers:

NFLX +4.15 to $113
AAPL +4.64 to $259
JCG + 2.13 to $46
SXCI + 1.32 to $74
ULTA +1.16 to $25.75

Sweatshop has a Heart Afterall....

Faced with an escalating management crisis following a spate of worker suicides, iPhone maker Foxconn Technology Group will increase employees' wages at its China operations by 20%, according to media reports Friday.

Commodity Stocks Downgraded...

• AK Steel (AKS) price target cut to $17 from $22; rating hold at Deutsche Bank

• Monsanto Co. (MON) price target cut to $60 from $82; rating buy at Deutsche Bank

• Nucor Corp. (NUE) price target cut to $50 from $53; rating buy at Deutsche Bank

• United States Steel Corp. (X) price target cut to $65 from $85; rating buy at Deutsche Bank

J Crew Beats and Raises...

J Crew Group Inc. (JCG). The apparel retailer posted a first-quarter profit on Thursday that topped Wall Street estimates and raised its full-year outlook. The company boosted its full-year earnings forecast to $2.35 to $2.45 per share from $2.20 to $2.30 per share previously.

CVS Overcharging for Prescriptions...

CVS Caremark Corp. (CVS). The company has been charging some customers of its SilverScript Medicare prescription-drug programs higher prices than they were promised when they signed up for the plans in late 2009, the WSJ reported on Thursday.

Apple Launches IPad overseas...

Apple Inc. (AAPL). The company’s iPad launched in overseas store shelves on Friday, with buyers storming Japanese and Australian shops to be among the first outside the United States to snap up the long awaited tablet PC.

Market Breadth Numbers...

Impressive Breadth numbers. Nasdaq Advancing Volume 21 times Declining Volume. Market made a little bump higher in the last hour as it became apparent that there would be no selloff. Shorts decided to cover before the close. We need to see a few of these type days in a row to shift the sentiment to positive.

Market closes broadly higher....

Market recap: Stocks zoomed higher and closed at session highs after China reassured investors that it doesn't plan to sell its massive holdings of European debt. Advancers outnumbered decliners more than seven to one on heavy volume.

Dow +284 to 10258
Nas +81 to 2277
S&P +35 to 1103

Lincoln Mercury line to be dropped by Ford....

Mercury is set to join Pontiac, Saturn, Oldsmobile and Plymouth in the great junkyard in the sky, as Ford (F) prepares to kill its "forgotten" 70-year-old brand.

Hopefully they won't get rid of the Mercury girl (Jill Wagner) on their commercials...

I-Phones Being Used more by Businesses....

AT&T Inc (T) said on Thursday that 40 percent of its iPhone sales since the beginning of the year have been to business customers, suggesting that the phone is encroaching on an area dominated by Research in Motion's (RIMM) BlackBerry.

AT&T also generates almost half of its total revenue from business customers, said Ron Spears, the head of the company's business services, at an investor conference.

The company would not say how many iPhones it sold during that period.

Analysts estimate that AT&T, which started selling iPhone in 2007, has about 15 million iPhone users or 17 percent of its total customer base. RIM reported a total customer base of about 41 million for the BlackBerry in its most recent quarterly report.

Earnings Preview for Novell....

Novell (NOVL) is expected to report Q2 earnings after the market close on Thursday, May 27, with a conference call scheduled for 5 pm ET.

Guidance
The consensus estimate is 7c for EPS and $204.85M for revenue, according to First Call. A number of private equity firms have been "kicking the tires" on Novell after the company announced in March that it will review alternatives to enhance shareholder value, including a potential sale of the company. This comes after Elliott Associates' $2B bid was rejected as "inadequate". Elliott already owns 8.5% of Novell. Since then, the Wall Street Journal reported that 20 bidders have been eyeing the company. Last week was the deadline for interested parties to submit bids, but the auction is expected to take longer.

Novell has four separate businesses, each of which could be attractive to a rival technology company. Speculation is that it's unlikely that a tech company would bid for all of Novell. A private equity firm could break up Novell, and either sell off the pieces or run them as standalone businesses. Given this latest auction action, Q2 results will be irrelevant. Nevertheless, management provided Q2 guidance on their last earnings call for a non-GAAP operating margin of 12%-15% and revenue similar to Q1's $202.4M. Novell came in a bit light last quarter, so expectations aren't high for a Q2 upside.

MSFT NOT presenting at AAPL conference...

Microsoft (MSFT) uses its Twitter account to dispel speculation Steve Ballmer will be taking the stage at Apple's (AAPL) June 7 developer conference: "Steve Ballmer not speaking at Apple Dev Conf. Nor appearing on Dancing with the Stars. Nor riding in the Belmont. Just FYI."

Noon Update...

The stock market continues to trade near its session high as only a handful of names are weak with losses. In turn, stocks remain on track for their best single-session percentage gain in two weeks. Despite such an accomplishment, the stock market is up only slightly more than 0.5% week-to-date and down almost 8% month-to-date. Trading volume is strong this session. Advancing volume currently outnumbers declining volume by more than 10-to-1 on the Big Board.

DJ30 +213.19
NASDAQ +58.71
SP500 +25.35

Mortgage Rates Dropping...

The recent flight to safety in Fixed Income is driving down mortgage rates for the fifth straight week, to an average 4.78% for a 30-year fixed-rate loan, Freddie Mac reports.

What the Hell???

A Foxconn Technology worker tried to kill himself Thursday, becoming the 13th person to commit suicide or attempt to do so this year at the company, which makes high-tech products for industry giants such as Apple, Dell and Hewlett-Packard, state media said.

Police said the man survived after cutting himself in his dormitory room at the factory, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. It said the 25-year-old man, surnamed Chen, migrated from central Hunan province and began working at Foxconn two months ago.

The 12 previous suicide attempts at Foxconn Technology Group's operations in southern China involved workers who jumped from buildings. Two survived. Another worker killed himself in January at a factory in northern China.

On Wednesday night, a 23-year-old worker from the northwestern province of Gansu killed himself by leaping from a dormitory balcony. Hours earlier, Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou had led a media tour of the industrial park and promised to work harder to prevent more deaths. Gou said he couldn't sleep at night and dreaded answering his phone in off hours, fearing more news about deaths.

Gou said the company would do everything possible to prevent more deaths. Safety nets were being installed on buildings and more counselors were being hired. He also said all the employees were being divided into 50-member groups, whose members would watch for signs of emotional trouble within their group.

Labor activists accuse the company of having a rigid management style, a too-fast assembly line and overwork. Foxconn denies the allegations.

OMG....

Google has started a trading floor to manage its $26.5 billion in cash and short-term investments.

This strikes me as being quite funny...

Crystal was robbed....

Lee DeWyze won the 9th season of “American Idol” in the final episode for judge Simon Cowell. The ratings for “American Idol” will be down ~9% this season, which Fox Chairman Peter Rice said is “pretty good”, compared to other shows. Cowell plans to return to Fox next year with his new show, “The X Factor.”

Moody's still not out of the woods....

Greenlight’s David Einhorn is still shorting Moody's (MCO). Einhorn has been critical on Moody’s decision making process, and noted that S&P has some of the same problems. Einhorn also believes that the European debt crisis could also bring more problems for the rating agencies.

Monsanto down as Roundup patent expires...

Monthly chart on Monsanto doesn't look pretty since announcement that Roundup patent is expiring.

Disney axes the Soap Channel...

DIS will close their 10 year old cable channel SoapNet, which will be replaced by Disney Junior in 2012. Programming on the Disney Channel and ~24 Playhouse Disney international channels will be re- branded as Disney Junior next year.

I was wondering if anyone actually watched reruns of Soaps at night.

What up with Yahoo???

Stock is down fractionally this morning while the rest of Tech is rallying big time. You have to wonder about Carol Bartz directing F-Bombs at a reporter in a live interview on Tuesday.

There has to be some hidden pressure there....

Oil Rig Insurance rises....

WR Berkley (WRB) is boosting premiums on deep water oil rig insurance by ~40% after the large oil spill in the Gulf.

No surprise here, but at least you now have a name.

Austrailia may soften mine tax....

Australia may soften blow of mine tax – Australia left the possibility of concessions to its 40% super profits tax after newspapers said it would change the way the tax is calculated to give a little support to miners. The gov’t currently defines “super profits” as any return on assets above 5.3%, but that could be doubled to 12%.

This would be big, as many mining stocks have sold off hard since the tax was proposed. Stocks like Rio Tinto (RTP), Cliffs (CLF) and Freeport (FCX) should be beneficiaries.

Caterpillar sold out of mining equipment....

CAT - Mining equipment sold out until next year – Not even halfway through 2010, CAT has already sold out of some of its largest mining vehicles due to rising commodity prices and is now taking orders for 2011 delivery. Although the momentum was strong early this year, recent price drops in commodities over the past few weeks might suggest the rally is short lived.

Netapp gets two upgrades....

Netapp Inc. (NTAP) price target raised to $39 from $36; rating neutral at BOFA Merrill. Price target raised to $38 from $36; rating equal-weight at Barclays

Coinstar lowers forecast....

Coinstar Inc. (CSTR). The redbox owner sold its electronic payment services business to InComm for $40 million and cut its second-quarter forecast to account for the sale. The company now expects earnings from continuing operations of 28 cents to 32 cents a share, on revenue of $363 million to $383 million for the quarter.

Not sure why they reported this the way they did. The company IS receiving $40 Million in Cash...unless they made a bad deal, this is probably good news.

Earnings released last night....

Jo-Ann Stores Inc.(JAS) said its first-quarter profit more than doubled to $18.2 million, or 66 cents a share, from $8.6 million, or 33 cents, a year ago. Revenue rose 4.4% to $480.3 million from $460 million. Same-store sales increased 4.1% from a year earlier.

McKesson Corp. (MCK) said it raised the quarterly dividend by 50% to 18 cents a share. The dividend will be paid on July 1 to shareholders of record on June 10.

NetApp Inc. (NTAP) reported fiscal fourth-quarter income of $145.1 million, or 40 cents a share, compared with a profit of $68.4 million, or 21 cents a share, for the year-end period. Revenue rose to $1.17 billion from $879.6 million.

Jamba Inc. (JMBA), parent of the Jamba Juice smoothie retail chain, reported a first-quarter net loss of $7 million, or 13 cents a share. In the year-earlier period, Jamba lost $10.2 million, or 19 cents a share. Sales fell to $80.4 million from $88.8 million partly due to a lower store count.

Earnings due today....

Costco (COST) is expected to report earnings of 66 cents a share in the first quarter, according to analysts surveyed by FactSet Research.

Tiffany (TIF) is forecast to report earnings of 35 cents a share in the first quarter.

J.Crew (JCG) is projected to report earnings of 57 cents a share in the first quarter.

H.J. Heinz Co. (HNZ) is likely to report earnings of 64 cents a share in the first quarter.

Guess Inc. (GES) is expected to report earnings of 49 cents a share in the first quarter.

Jones Soda to be sold in WalMart stores....

Jones Soda (JSDA) up a whopping 62% premarket after inking a deal with Wal-Mart (WMT) to sell its products in WMT's 3,800 U.S. stores. Jones says customers' biggest complaint had been "that people can’t find Jones Soda near them."

JNJ could face criminal charges...

FDA is considering criminal charges against Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) following its wide-ranging recall of children's Tylenol and other medicines.

Costco Beats....

Costco beats by $0.02, reports revs in-line (COST) 55.98 : Reports Q3 (May) earnings of $0.68 per share, $0.02 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.66; revenues rose 12.5% year/year to $17.78 bln vs the $17.62 bln consensus. Comparable sales for 3Q increased 10%.

Good Morning...

At 8:35 am:

S&P futures vs fair value: +15.00. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +31.30. Stock futures are off of their morning highs, but they continue to trade with strength in the wake of the latest dose of data. The second estimate for first quarter GDP showed that the economy expanded at an annualized rate of 3.0%, which is down from the 3.2% increase that came with the advance estimate.