Just to show you some Bond yields....

Here are a few corporate bonds that just came across my desk:

JP Morgan Chase
Aa3 / A+ rated 
4.35% coupon
8/15/21 maturity
Price: 105.5
3.68 Current yield
Noncallable

Commonwealth Edison
Baa1/A- rated
3.40% coupon
9/1/21 maturity
Price: 102.5
3.10 current yield
Noncallable

Goldman Sachs
A1/A rated
6.25% coupon
2/1/41 maturity
Price at par 100
6.25 current yield
Noncallable

European stocks down...

European shares are dropping sharply - back to near flat following big early gains - after the Austrian Parliament fails to approve an upgrade of the European rescue fund.

Our markets sold off initially on this news, Dow was down 105+ points.

Let's see if we can shake this off and resume our move higher.

At 10:00 am....

Stocks are mixed...actually hanging tough in here considering the last two up days we have had.

Dow +11
Nas +15
S&P +2

Report on BP spill to be released today...

BP shares surge in the wake of a WSJ article that suggests blame for last year's Gulf of Mexico spill could be apportioned more widely than initially thought. Any indication that BP wouldn’t be held solely responsible for the accident reduces the chances of it being found grossly negligent.

BP stock is up 1.60 to 38.04 ion premarket trading.

Raymond James defends Silvercorp...

Raymond James is defending Silvercorp (SVM) following a fraud investigation from Canadian regulators, and a negative report from Alfred Little. The firm thinks a Chinese mine brought up in Alfred Little's report is a quality asset, and believes the recent decline in Silvercorp shares presents a buying opportunity.

We mentioned this story yesterday as Silvercorp's stock was falling.

More on Best Buy...

Best Buy (BBY) CEO Brian Dunn says the retailer's 1,100 stores still give it an advantage over online rivals. He hears the calls of investors to close stores, but says mixing a strong online assortment with store retailing is a "winning scenario in the long haul."

This Best Buy case is one to keep a close eye on.  I think this online vs. "bricks and morter" battle strikes right at the heart of our country's unemployment problem, which may or may not lead to more government programs to support those who are shut out by the closing of stores.    

Fitch downgrades Spain...

Fitch downgrades 5 Spanish regions and puts them on negative outlook, saying the move reflects "the sharp fiscal deterioration seen in recent years which has led to sharp increases in debt levels." Five other regions rated by Fitch are not downgraded, but are put on negative outlook.

Why is our market not reacting negatively to this news??? 

GE to redeem preferreds...

Dow component General Electric (GE) is also in the news, as it plans to redeem the preferred shares held by Berkshire Hathaway (BRK/A) for $3.3 billion. Those shares were bought by Berkshire during the 2008 financial crisis.

This is a sign of good health.

Ebay stealing from Craigslist???

Ebay (EBAY) could be a stock to watch today, following news that the Justice Department is probing alleged criminal activities by employees. They're suspected of taking information from Craigslist to develop a competing service.

Futures point to higher open...

Hey.  How about this.  Looks like we have shaken off all the doom and gloom out there, and we are looking for a third straight up day.

S&P futures currently up 8 points.

Stocks close broadly higher...

Dow +44 to 11105
Nas +37 to 2532
S&P +10 to 1172

Oils, commodities and Technology led the way.

It was a nice follow thru from yesterday's last hour close.  Especially considering that Futures were down so much earlier.  Let's hope Europe can have another positive day overnight.

Cummins looks for 14% annual growth...

Shares of Cummins Inc. are soaring (up 5.28 to 92.38) after the diesel engine maker said they expect 2011 to be a record year.

Chairman and CEO Tim Solso told a group of about 150 Wall Street analysts that the Columbus, Ind. company hopes to post $30 billion in sales in 2015 and expects to grow at an annual rate of about 14 percent to reach that target. 

"Despite the current uncertainty surrounding the strength of economic growth in some regions of the world, 2011 will be a record year for Cummins," Solso said.

Here's a look at Cummins chart:

Nice Rally in Europe...

European stocks brake a more than 10% slide in since Labor Day, closing solidly higher. Stoxx 50 +1.8%, Germany +1.4%, France +1.1%, Italy +1.7%, Spain +2.4%, U.K. +1%. French bank shares had a wild ride, with SocGen 15% higher after swinging 32% on the day.

Check out Universal Display (PANL)...

We mentioned this one about a week ago.

The stock is climbing again today, up 4.80 to 56.03

Here is the Weekly Chart:

A Silver Scam???

Silvercorp (SVM -11.7%) is falling hard after Alfred Little issues a bearish report questioning the company's "production, quality and resource estimates" for a Chinese mine, and claiming much of the company's sales growth has come from " two questionable customers."

Here is the weekly chart.  Looks like a near perfect head and shoulders breakdown:

Insider transactions are bullish...

Consider a ratio of the total number of shares recently sold by insiders of all publicly traded corporations in the U.S., to the number of shares they purchased.

According to the Vickers Weekly Insider Report, published by Argus Research, the average level of this ratio over the last four decades is between 2-to-1 and 2.5-to-1. They therefore consider it to be bullish whenever this ratio drops below that long-term average.

The ratio for insider transactions last week, according to the latest Vickers Weekly Insider Report, was 1.27-to-1. The eight-week average of this ratio, which smooths out the week-to-week volatility, is an even more bullish 1.03-to-1.

This is the lowest level for the eight-week ratio since late 2008 and early 2009. The bull market, of course, began in March 2009.

Here is the longer term chart of Insider Sales vs. Buys:
 

Stocks turn positive...

At 5 am this morning Dow futures were down 141 points.  The Dow just turned positive and stocks are building on yesterday's late gains.  Needless to say, that is a nice reversal.

Dow +8
Nas +16
S&P +5 to 1167

Best Buy misses...

Electronics retailer Best Buy Co. said Tuesday that its fiscal second-quarter profit fell to $177 million, or 47 cents a share, from $254 million, or 60 cents, a year earlier.

Revenue in the quarter rose slightly to $11.35 billion from $11.34 billion.

Analysts surveyed by FactSet estimated profit of 52 cents a share on revenue of $11.47 billion.

Shares of Best Buy are opening down 0.60 to 24.35

Toyota expands in Indonesia...

Toyota Motor Corp (TM). The auto giant said it will invest 2.9 trillion rupiah in Indonesia, building a new factory and rolling out a new model, in its second move this year to expand in the fast-growing car market.

Futures down but off their lows....

Wall Street comes off a notable Monday session in which the Dow surged more than 183 points in the final hour trading to finish higher for the day.

That move broke a string of six straight triple-digit moves for the Dow - and also continued another interesting if quirky streak: stocks have not fallen on a Monday since August 8.

Futures are pointing to a lower open this morning despite the late rally, with European debt concerns once again dominating investor attention.