Goldman Sachs (GS) announced that net income dropped by 11 percent in the most recent quarter due to fewer investment banking deals and financial market volatility. Net income was $962 million, or $1.78 in the quarter, versus $1.09 billion, or $1.85 per share in the same period last year.
Cable provider Comcast has bought all of Microsoft’s stock in news site MSNBC.com. The deal is said to cost Comcast approximately $300 million. Microsoft and Comcast, the parent company of NBC-Universal, had an equal partnership in MSNBC for 16 years prior to this news. MSNBC.com will now be known as NBCNews.com according to Jennifer Sizemore, Editor-in-Chief of the newly named NBCNews. The two companies joined forces to operate the outlet in 1996, but ended their operating partnership in 2005 when the MSNBC was solely run by NBC. Comcast has said recently that it will sell it’s stakes in other joint ventures with partners like A&E Television Networks and Disney-ABC Television Group.
Par Pharmaceuticals Cos. has agreed to a takeover by private-equity firm TPG Captial causing shares to surge above $50 dollars on Monday. The deal will see TPG acquiring Par for $1.84 Billion in cash. Par specializes in making generic drugs and niche pharmaceuticals. In late 2011 and early 2012 it acquired generic pharmaceutical companies Anchen Pharmaceuticals, and Edict Pharmaceuticals, allowing Par to increase its generic drug operations. Par has said that its board unanimously approved the buyout, but the deal needs the approval of the majority of Par’s outstanding stockholders. The deal is estimated to finish before the end of 2012.
Stocks closed fractionally lower on uncertainty surrounding the Libor issue and in anticipation of Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s comments to Congress over the next couple if days. At the close, the Dow and Nasdaq were down .40% and the S&P 500 was down .23%.
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) maintained its quarterly dividend of 61 cents per share. The dividend is payable on September 11, 2012, to shareholders of record at the close of business on Aug.
As the saying goes, there are many possible reasons for an insider to sell a stock, but only one reason to buy — they expect to make money. So let’s look at two noteworthy recent insider buys.
The Daily Ticker’s Aaron Task interviews Eliot Spitzer about the Libor scandal
In trading on Monday, drugs shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 0.7%. Leading the group were shares of Par Pharmaceutical Companies (PRX), up about 37.5% and shares of Zogenix (ZGNX) up about 8.6% on the day.
The first trading day of the week has investors digesting news about the ongoing Libor scandal. Good morning, this is Kristin Bianco with the Week Ahead Market Report for July 16, 2012.
By CountingPips.com
The latest Commitments of Traders (COT) report, released on Friday by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), showed that large futures speculators added to their overall US dollar long positions last week while traders increased their bearishness of the euro currency.
Non-commercial futures traders, including hedge funds and large speculators, added to their total US dollar long positions to $24.58 billion on July 10th from a total long position of $23.58 billion on July 3rd, according to the CFTC COT data and calculations by Reuters which calculates the dollar positions against the euro, British pound, Japanese yen, Australian dollar, Canadian dollar and the Swiss franc.
Individual Currencies:
EuroFX: Currency speculator sentiment for the euro decreased last week after improving the previous week. Euro net short positions or bets against the currency rose to 165,705 contracts on July 10th from the previous week’s total of 146,177 net short contracts on July 3rd. The latest euro sentiment standing is the lowest level in the last four weeks.
The COT report is published every Friday by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and shows futures positions as of the previous Tuesday. It can be a useful tool for traders to gauge investor sentiment and to look for potential changes in the direction of a currency or commodity. Each currency contract is a quote for that currency directly against the U.S. dollar, where as a net short amount of contracts means that more speculators are betting that currency to fall against the dollar and net long position expect that currency to rise versus the dollar. The graphs overlay the forex spot closing price of each Tuesday when COT trader positions are reported for each corresponding spot currency pair.
GBP: British pound sterling positions decreased last week for the second consecutive week. British pound positions fell slightly further on the short side to a total of 7,622 net short contracts on July 10th following a total of 5,353 net short contracts the previous week.
JPY: Japanese yen speculative contracts rose last week after declining for two consecutive weeks. Yen positions edged higher to a total of 8,952 net long contracts reported on July 10th following a total of 4,175 net long contracts on July 3rd. Japanese positions have now continued to be positive on the long side for a sixth consecutive week after crossing over on June 5th.
CHF: Swiss franc speculator positions improved for a second consecutive week. Speculator positions for the Swiss currency futures registered a total of 17,584 net short contracts on July 10th following a total of 19,060 net short contracts as of July 3rd.
CAD: Canadian dollar positions edged lower for a second week in a row. Canadian dollar positions dipped to a total of 4,338 net long contracts as of July 10th following a total of 8,690 long contracts that were reported for July 3rd. This is the lowest level for Canadian dollar positions since February 6th when large speculators contracts equaled 2,184 long positions.
AUD: The Australian dollar positions improved for a fifth consecutive week after crossing over into positive territory for the first time since May 15th on July 3rd. Aussie positions improved to a total net amount of 19,065 long contracts on July 10th after rising to 9,348 net long contracts as of July 3rd.
NZD: New Zealand dollar futures speculator positions improved for a fifth consecutive week and continued higher on the long side to the highest level since early May. NZD contracts increased to a total of 5,591 net long contracts as of July 10th following a total of 4,320 net long contracts on July 3rd. The kiwi contracts are now at their highest level since May 8th when contracts equaled 6,224.
MXN: Mexican peso speculative contracts advanced for a fifth straight week and continued higher after crossing over into positive territory two weeks ago. Peso positions rose to a total of 25,222 net long speculative positions as of July 10th following a total of 17,475 long contracts that were reported for July 3rd. Mexican peso contracts on June 5th were at their lowest level since November 28th 2011 when positions equaled 36,240 short contracts and now positions have reached their highest level since early May.
COT Currency Data Summary as of July 10, 2012
Large Speculators Net Positions vs. the US Dollar
EUR -165705
GBP -7622
JPY +8952
CHF -17584
CAD +4338
AUD +19065
NZD +5591
MXN +25222
