To: Donald Wennerstrom who wrote (43722 ) 3/13/2009 9:10:36 PM From: Return to Sender 1 Recommendation Respond to of 95596 From Briefing.com: 4:15 pm : Following the stock market's near 11% rebound during the previous three sessions, participants were compelled Friday to take profits amid a lack of positive catalysts. Still, stocks showed resolve to the selling effort by climbing back from a loss of more than 1% to finish the session with a solid gain. Sellers focused their efforts on financials, which had surged nearly 40% from last week's intraday lows to the prior session's close. That gain was inspired by reassuring headlines indicating JPMorgan Chase (JPM 23.75, +0.55), Bank of America (BAC 5.76, -0.09), and Citigroup (C 1.78, +0.11) are profitable so far this year. More recently, Citigroup went on to say it will not need additional funds from the government. Financials have also been bolstered in recent sessions by headlines suggesting possible relaxation from mark-to-market rules and short-selling rules. Though there haven't been any new details released about those matters, the potential for more positive headlines is challenging short sellers. Financials initially showed strength Friday, but fell to a loss of more than 4%. Given the gains financials registered in recent sessions, the downward move wasn't very surprising considering the lack of positive catalysts and listless trading in early action. What was encouraging, though, was the fact financials came rallying back to close with a gain (+0.3%). Despite a lack of clear leadership and very choppy trading, the broader market was also able to muster a gain and close above its November closing low. Stocks have now closed higher in four straight sessions, which was last done more than one month ago. Health care, which is the largest sector in the S&P 500 by market weight, was this session's best performing sector. Health care stocks advanced 3.3% as investors show renewed interest in the sector following its string of weakness. Stocks in the sector had become battered during recent weeks as investors feared health care reform would crimp profits. Recent merger and acquisition activity has also induced a bit of a snap back in buying. Energy was the session's worst performing sectors. Energy shed 0.7% amid downgrades of several oil equipment and services stocks and a 1.7% decline in crude oil prices. Crude oil for April delivery settled at $46.25 per barrel. Oil prices had actually traded higher in the early going, but this weekend's OPEC meeting has created a sense of uncertainty among traders. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will meet March 17-18 to make its latest monetary policy decision. The FOMC is expected to keep interest rates in the target range of 0% to 0.25%. Per usual, though, market participants will look for insights into the FOMC's plans to support financial markets. This session's economic news had little effect on trading. February import prices were down 0.2% month-over-month, which is a softer downturn than the 0.7% decline that was widely expected. Meanwhile, the January Trade Balance showed a $36.0 billion deficit, which is less steep than the $38.0 billion deficit that was expected. A drop in exports slightly offset a drop in imports. The deficit has narrowed every month since July, revealing an overall contraction in global trade. With global trade slowing, Japan and China indicated they are willing to devise fresh stimulus. That sentiment helped drive a 5.2% gain in Japan's Nikkei and a 4.4% gain in Hong Kong's Hang Seng. The MSCI Asia-Pacific Index closed 3.5% higher.DJ30 +53.92 NASDAQ +5.40 NQ100 +0.3% R2K +0.8% SP400 +0.4% SP500 +5.81 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1149/1518/2.06 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1101/1959/1.61 bln Needham noted last night Novellus (NVLS 13.30 +0.79) lowered 1Q09 bookings/shipment guidance to low-end of ranges at its mid-quarter business update. Firm believes some of the expected memory orders will not book this qtr. On the other hand, spares business has rebounded in recent weeks, although it remains substantially below historical levels. Overall, the level of incremental negative news in the sector is moderating, suggesting business could be approaching a bottom. However, they believe this downturn could last several more quarters, and believe consensus estimates for 2H09 and 2010 remain too aggressive. 09:33 am Dell upgraded to Neutral at AmTech Research: . AmTech Research upgrades DELL to Neutral from Sell as the firm believes the stock is already discounting the challenging fundamentals the co is facing in upcoming quarters from weak IT spending and the downward mix shift in PCs. The firm notes that consensus EPS estimates have essentially converged with the firms previously significantly below Street est, and sentiment is notably negative. Additionally, recent data points from the supply chain indicate PC builds for 1Q09 are tracking ahead of expectations as of early February, and suggest a return to a "normal" pattern in 2Q09. The firm is looking for evidence the co can be successful in expanding to higher margin businesses and/or gain share in PCs before getting more constructive 8:03AM TrimTabs estimates all equity mutual funds redeemed $8.8 billion in week ended Wednesday, March 11th : TrimTabs Investment Research estimates that all equity mutual funds redeemed $8.8 billion in the week ended Wednesday, March 11, versus a revised outflow of $19.7 billion in the previous week. Equity funds that invest primarily in U.S. stocks posted an outflow of $3.1 billion, versus a revised outflow of $13.3 billion in the previous week. Equity funds that invest primarily in non-U.S. stocks had an outflow of $5.7 billion, versus a revised outflow of $6.4 billion in the previous week. In addition, bond funds had an outflow of $1.5 billion, versus a revised inflow of $1.6 billion in the previous week, and hybrid funds had no net flows this week, versus a revised outflow of $3.0 billion in the previous week. Separately, TrimTabs reports that exchange-traded funds that invest in U.S. stocks posted an inflow of $132 million, versus an inflow of $592 million in the previous week. ETFs that invest in non-U.S. stocks had an outflow of $450 million, versus an outflow of $1.2 billion in the previous week.