Market rebounds in last hour...

The volatility continues...

Dow +143
Nas -11
S&P +9

The Dow was up for most of the day, but Nasdaq stocks showed some serious weakness.  Not sure what happened today, but the market was all over the place...volatility is at unprecedented levels.

Gold and Silver finished higher.  Banks were higher all day.  Everything else was pretty much mixed.  It looks as if the only people in the market are day traders.  That might be true.

Bank of America to charge fee for using Debit Card...

Another day, another new bank fee. This time it's Bank of America (BAC), as most of its customers will soon see a new $5 charge on their statements for any month in which they use a BofA debit card to make a purchase. The bank, like others, is considering new ways to recover debit card revenue that is going away because of new regulations.

This is an act of desperation...check out BAC's chart.  The stock is currently up 0.08 to 6.24, but it sits just above the 6.00 level it was at before Warren Buffett jumped in and tried to show support.  The more I hear from this company the more I believe they really are in trouble.  Don't forget BAC owns Merrill Lynch.

GM to introduce center airbags...

GM plans to introduce cars with center airbags and advanced collision avoidance systems in 2012 and 2013. The growing adoption of such technologies should be a boon for automotive chipmakers such as STM, NXPI, IRF, and ONNN who will provide the analog chips and microcontrollers needed to enable them.

At 2:30 pm....

The Dow still holds on to gains...technology stocks getting hit hard.

Dow +20
Nas -41
S&P -4

Chevron +1.62 and Exxon +1.26 are propping up the Dow.  Banks are also showing some strength.

On the downside:

Amazon (AMZN) -11
Cummins (CMI) -2.32
Apple (AAPL) -7.94
Chipotle (CMG) -13
Priceline (PCLN) -31
Netflix (NFLX) -18
Whole Foods (WFM) -3.50
Wynn (WYNN) -12.87

So you can see...not good.

This is getting ugly....

The Dow is still up 80 points, but underneath we are getting some real carnage.

Too many stocks down to mention...looks to me like some hedge fund is blowing up...I've kind of thought this is what has been behind the drop in Gold of late, but now it is hitting the most popular stocks.

I don't like it...

Law Firms getting line for IFT case...

This is funny. 

After Imperial Trading was halted at $6 a share on Tuesday, then opened yesterday at 2.09...on news that the company was raided by Feds...the parasites are gathering for a feast.

Here are headlines that came out yesterday:

The Law Firm of Levi & Korsinsky, LLP Launches an Investigation into Possible Securities Laws Violations by Imperial Holdings, Inc.

Dyer & Berens LLP (Denver) Announces Its Investigation of Imperial Holdings, Inc.

Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC (New Orleans) Announces Investigation Into Imperial Holdings Inc. Following Federal Raid


Tripp Levy PLLC (New York) Announces Investigation of Imperial Holdings

Bernstein Liebhard LLP (New York) Announces Investigation of Imperial Holdings, Inc.

Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP (New York) Announces Investigation Of Imperial Holdings, Inc.

Rigrodsky & Long, P.A. (Delaware) Announces Investigation of Imperial Holdings, Inc.

Law Offices of Howard G. Smith (Pennsylvania) Announces Investigation of Imperial Holdings, Inc.

Ryan & Maniskas, LLP (Pennsylvania) Announces Investigation of Imperial Holdings, LLC


I'm sure there will be more....It's great that we have so many firms investigating this case.

Sell Rosh Hashanah, buy Yom Kippur...

Harry Schiller, one of the Street's more venerable technicians, called to note that the old trading tip really does have trading history behind it.

Over the last 40 years, Harry says, the average return has been minus 0.6 percent in the S&P 500 in the period between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Remember, it's sell Rosh Hashanah, buy Yom Kippur, so that indicates it has worked.

Why does it work? Harry postulates that religious Jews are not supposed to be playing around with their stock portfolios before the high holy days. So the idea is to sell going into the holy days, and buy after.

Rosh Hashanah started last night at sundown, Yom Kippur is October 8.

Wall Street's Red-headed Step Child...

It's still a momentum trade - to the downside. Netflix (NFLX) sinks on no fresh news, but shares broke through $125 yesterday so now people want to dump them. Competition hurts: Amazon’s (AMZN) new Kindle will let users stream movies, and Microsoft (MSFT) will get some pay TV content from Comcast (CMCSA) and Verizon (VZ) streamed to its Xbox Live.

NFLX is currently down another 14.04 to 113.10 today.

DOJ investigates Chinese companies...

The U.S. Department of Justice has launched an investigation into possible accounting fraud at Chinese companies listed on U.S. stock exchanges. The involvement of the DoJ adds investigative firepower to the SEC and the FBI, which have already been probing Chinese companies for over a year.


Really??  I can't imagine that some of these Chinese companies might be fudging their numbers.

Three Winners for you...

Perrigo (PRGO) +2.12 to 98.84 - Perrigo makes various drug store brand health care products.  Next time you are in a CVS or Rite Aid, look on the back of one of their generic products, like aspirins or creams...many are made by Perrigo.

Allergan (AGN) +1.40 to new high of 85.50 - makes various medical products including their most notable Botox.

IBM (IBM) +1.97 to 179.52 - IBM is very well positioned in just about every area of technology...has been very strong of late.

Noon Update....

The averages are still higher, but there are plenty of market leaders taking it on the chin.

Dow +180
Nas +10
S&P +14 to 1165

Notable decliners:

Green Mountain (GMCR) -5.63 to 98.25
Amazon (AMZN) -5.60 to 224.20
Apple (AAPL) - 2.00 to 394.10
Baidu (BIDU) -8 to 113.34
Wynn Resorts (WYNN) -7.97 to 127.55
Chipotle (CMG) -5.00 to 314
Priceline (PCLN) -19 to 479

Plosser calls Operation Twist "risky"...

Philly Fed's Charles Plosser, one of the Three Dissenters, weighs in again on Operation Twist, calling it a "risky" move that won't spark business hiring or consumer spending. "We should not take certain actions simply because we can," warning that "even more accommodative monetary policy" could lead to high inflation down the road.

Link to discussion of iPad vs. Kindle Fire...

If you are interested, here is a discussion...

http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/28/tech/gaming-gadgets/kindle-fire-vs-ipad#

Today's Upgardes and Downgrades...

These are some of this Thursday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen having an impact from Wall Street research calls.


Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE: AMD) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML; Maintained Buy but cut target to $7 at Canaccord Genuity.
Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) Maintained Buy with $255 target at BofA/ML.
The Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX) Started as Neutral at Stern Agee.
Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE: CAH) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Celestica Inc. (NYSE: CLS) Started as Market Perform at BMO.
Dril-Quip, Inc. (NYSE: DRQ) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
InterMune, Inc. (NASDAQ: ITMN) Reiterated Buy with $44 target at Canaccord Genuity.
Jabil Circuit Inc. (NYSE: JBL) Reiterated Buy and $24 target at Argus.
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (NYSE: KKR) Started as Buy at Stern Agee.
ONEOK Partners. LP (NYSE: OKS) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE: VLO) named as value stock of the day at Zacks.

At 10:25 am....

The averages are showing gains, but it looks like underneath some damage is going on.

Dow +209
Nas +8
S&P +13

AMZN now down 5 to 224
AAPL now down 3.60 to 393
GLD now only up 0.40 to 156.64
SLV now up 0.48 to 29.37

Stocks open higher...

At 9:45 am stocks are broadly higher in what looks to be alot of short covering following the better than expected unemployment numbers.

Dow +209
Nas 40
S&P +21 to 1172

There are pockets of weakness out there, so I'm not necessarily buying it that we are going to hold up here.

Here's what I am watching:

Apple opened up 5 points to 402
Amazon opened up 4.50 to 234
GLD opened up 1.80 to 158
SLV opened up 1.05 to $30

Let's see if those gains hold up.

More in 30 minutes...

Mosaic misses earnings estimates...

Fertilizer company Mosaic (MOS) stock is down this morning after posting disappointing earnings last night after the bell.

Mosaic posted $1.17 in EPS. Analysts had been expecting $1.27 in earnings, although it’s not clear whether the estimates were comparable. Gross margin expanded to 27.5% from 23.1%. Net sales of both phosphates and potash rose 40%.

“Our Potash business continues to generate great returns,” said CEO Jim Prokopanko. ”We accelerated our summer maintenance work, driving higher operating rates to meet strong demand.”

“Global demand for phosphate continues to grow, and we are operating near full capacity to meet customer requirements,” Prokopanko added.

Last week, Standard & Poor’s announced that Mosaic would join the S&P 500.

Cisco revamping software...

Cisco (CSCO) is announcing a major software revamp for its enterprise videoconferencing line, with a focus on recording and sharing video content, and extending support to mobile devices. Videoconferencing has remained a growth market for Cisco, as the company battles Polycom (PLCM) for market leadership.

Neither company's stock has done very well lately:

Ford plans to add 7,000 jobs in U.S. – CEO...

The automaker stuck to its target of adding 7,000 jobs in the United States over the next two years, saying it sees an economic expansion there and not a double-dip recession.

Nice to see Alan Mallaly has so much confidence in the economy considering his company's stock price has fallen from $18.97 a share back in January to closing under $10 yesterday.

Morgan Stanly cuts Oil forecast...

Morgan Stanley cuts its 2012 forecast for Brent crude to $100, from $130, on its expectation for returning supply from Libya, Canada and the North Sea. Analysts with the firm see weak demand offsetting inventory cuts by OPEC.

Ha....this is hilarious.  Oil is currently at 82.46 per barrel.  The analyst is trying to slip his forecast down so he doesn't look so stupid.  Maybe no one will notice.

How worthless are these guys???

Here is the long term chart:

Discover faces enforcement action from FDIC...

Discover (DFS), down 4% yesterday in a mysterious swoon, faces an enforcement action from the FDIC over the company's marketing practices. The firm says it believes it has already addressed the issues related to the FDIC complaint, which was filed after the market closed.

DFS closed yesterday at $23.88

Autozone approves stock buyback...

The Board of Directors at AutoZone (AZO) approves an additional $750M stock buyback, on top of its existing share repurchasement plan.

This is strange.  Usually companies buyback shares when a stock has fallen and the company thinks the shares are a bargain.  The weekly chart is below...note the stock near all-time highs...so why would they be buying back shares here???  Hmmm...

2 Possible Reasons:

1. They think the stock is going higher; or
2. They want to reduce the number of shares outstanding, which would help prop up their earnings per share.  Maybe they know their earnings are NOT going to be a good as expected???

Imperial Holdings follow up...

We mentioned this on Tuesday...

Imperial Holdings(IFT) lost well more than half of its market capitalization Wednesday as investors crowded the exits in the wake of a raid of the company's offices by federal authorities.

The Boca Raton, Fla.-based company, which provides loans and cash payments based on life insurance policies and structured settlements, acknowledged late Tuesday it was served with a search warrant by the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of Florida, saying it fully cooperated with the exercise of the warrant.

Imperial further disclosed that both the company and certain employees, including its chairman and CEO Antony Mitchell, are being investigated by the District of New Hampshire, and that the probe relates to its life finance business. Perhaps coincidentally, the "How it Works" section for the company's life finance business on its Web site is currently listed as Under Construction.

The stock closed Wednesday, down over 70% on the day. Earlier in the session, the shares sank as low as $1.55. At current levels, the company's market cap is a little more than $50 million.


"Today's action comes as a complete surprise," said CEO Mitchell in the company's prepared statement. "We are not aware of any wrongdoing and will cooperate fully with all relevant authorities to assist them in their investigation."

Good Morning....

Futures are higher after the weekly jobs report showed much less than expected jobless claims. 

As of now Dow futures point to another 100 plus point open.  Of course, I don't put alot of creedence in the futures anymore as they are clearly manipulated by large trading firms.

The concern going into today is the way the market closed each of the last two sessions.  On both Tuesday and Wednesday, the Dow gave up 150 points in the last hour of trading.  It would be nice if we could stop that trend.