InvestMacro FX

With E3 starting this week, investors with stakes in the video game industry will be watching to see the new and exciting announcements that could make or break the struggling companies within the sector.Let’s take a look at where some of the biggest players are right now.First up, is Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA). One of the biggest video game publishers announced its new lineup of games including titles like the highly successful Madden NFL franchise and their online multiplayer game Star Wars: The Old Republic. One that is in the news right now however is Battledfield 3. This first-person-shooter will soon have a $50-per year service for players to unlock extra online features and content. This is similar to Activision’s Call of Duty Elite Premium service. EA has not been doing well this past year though. The company is down 35%, and is currently trading over 1% lower today at $12.94.Next is EA’s big competitor Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI). The company behind the Call of Duty franchise and the newly released Diablo III has had some negative press recently. A civil lawsuit hit the news with game maker Infinity Ward suing Activision for wrongful dismissal after the company fired them in March 2010. Infinity Ward claimed the video game publisher fired them to avoid paying more than $36 million in bonuses. Both parties settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.Activision Blizzard has not taken much of a hit this past year though, its stock down just 5%. Currently, the company is trading relatively flat, the stock up fractionally to $11.65. Finally, Take Two Interactive (NASDAQ:TTWO) one of the smaller publishers has an exciting lineup for this year and the future. The company is well known for its titles from Rockstar Games and 2K Studios. Some of the new games include BioShock Infinite and Grand Theft Auto V, the long anticipated sequel to the franchise. Currently in the news, the company will begin bringing its Max Payne 3 game to the PC and has suffered major criticism over delaying its new BioShock game till February.For the year, the company is seeing double digit declines and currently is falling in trading today. Take Two Interactive is down over 2% to $10.80.That’s it for the Video Game Sector Report. For more industry news and financial analysis, keep it right here to the Financial News Network.

Dollar General (DG) announced that it earned $213.4 million, or 63 cents per share, for its most recent fiscal quarter, up from $157 million, or 45 cents per share, in the same period last year. Revenue rose by 13 percent to $3.9 billion.

Buckeye Technologies (BKI) was upgraded today by UBS (UBS) from neutral to buy with a price target of $36, as the firm believes that the stock has been oversold, though risks still exist. Shares are higher by about 1.1 percent.

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.

Chinese mobile direct marketing company Loyalty Alliance Enterprise Corporation (LAEC) is the only company scheduled to make a initial public offering for the week of June 4, 2012. The company plans to sell 5.1 million American Depository Shares in a range of $12 to $14 to be traded on the NASDAQ exchange.

In trading on Monday, water utilities shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 0.4%. Leading the group were shares of Conn Water Services (CTWS), up about 3.7% and shares of Aqua America (WTR) up about 1% on the day.

Ezra Klein’s commentary of the George Soros speech from WashingtonPost.com – Soros speech examines the history of the Eurozone currency union, its problems and why Germany “is likely to do what is necessary to preserve the euro – but nothing more

More Forex Open Orders statistics, this time from SaxoBank – FX open orders module launched on TradingFloor.com

In trading on Monday, biotechnology shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 3.7%. Leading the group were shares of Biosante Pharmaceuticals (BPAX), up about 479.2% and shares of Medtox Scientific (MTOX) up about 35.5% on the day.

The Daily Ticker’s Aaron Task and Henry Blodget talk to Ben White about the political implications of the number for President Obama.

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 boosted their overall US dollar long positions last week for a fourth consecutive week as the outlook for the global economy deteriorates and traders seek a safe haven in the US dollar.

Non-commercial futures traders, including hedge funds and large speculators, increased their bets in favor of the US dollar against the euro, Australian dollar, New Zealand dollar, British pound sterling and the Canadian dollar. Speculator positions in the Japanese yen, Swiss franc and Mexican peso, although still in bearish territory, improved last week against the American currency.

Individual Currencies:

EuroFX: Currency speculator sentiment dropped for the euro currency once again last week as euro net short positions or bets against the currency rose to a new record high. Euro short positions increased to 203,415 contracts on May 29th from the previous week’s total of 195,361 net short contracts on May 22nd. This is the third straight week Euro short positions have reached a new record level.

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 a third week after peaking at the highest level in over a year on May 8th. British pound positions saw a total of 1,475 net long contracts on May 29th following a total of 11,340 net long contracts registered on May 22nd.

JPY: Japanese yen speculative contracts improved last week for a seventh consecutive week. Yen positions totaled 11,330 net short contracts reported on May 29th following a total of 18,015 net short contracts on May 22nd. Japanese positions have benefited from the heavy risk aversion in the markets and the JPY has pared losses against the US Dollar in the spot price forex market.

CHF: Swiss franc speculator positions improved after decreasing sharply for the previous two weeks. Speculator positions for the Swiss currency futures registered a total of 30,596 net short contracts on May 29th following a total of 34,851 net short contracts as of May 22nd.

CAD: Canadian dollar positions declined last week for a fourth straight week after reaching the highest level of the year on May 1st. Canadian dollar positions declined to a total of 34,085 net long contracts as of May 29th following a total of 38,555 long contracts that were reported for May 22nd.

AUD: The Australian dollar positions dropped sharply for a fourth consecutive week and brought Aussie positions further negative after crossing over to the short side for the first time in years on May 22nd. Aussie positions declined to a total net amount of 35,527 short contracts on May 29th after falling to 16,898 net short contracts as of May 22nd. AUD speculative positions are now at the lowest level since at least 2009 and two weeks ago fell below the previous low level of the last 12 months that was a total of 5,167 contracts on September 26th of 2011.

NZD: New Zealand dollar futures speculator positions declined for a sixth straight week as positions for the Kiwi turned further negative. NZD contracts decreased to a total of 5,208 net short contracts as of May 29th following a total of 1,509 net short contracts on May 22nd. This is the lowest level for New Zealand Kiwi contracts since at least 2009.

MXN: Mexican peso speculative contracts improved slightly after declining for three consecutive weeks. Peso positions improved to a total of 12,995 net short speculative positions as of May 29th following a total of 16,116 long contracts that were reported for May 22nd. The May 22nd level was the lowest standing for Mexican peso contracts since January 17, 2012 when contracts were a total of 17,328 short positions.

COT Currency Data Summary as of May 29, 2012
Large Speculators Net Positions vs. the US Dollar

EUR -203415
GBP +1475
JPY -11330
CHF -30596
CAD +34085
AUD -35527
NZD -5208
MXN -12995