Mar 27, 2008

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Police investigate dioxin in Italian mozzarella-

ROME (Reuters) - Makers of Italy's best mozzarella battled on Friday to save the reputation of their cheese after police found some of it was being made with milk contaminated with cancer-causing dioxin.

Police near Naples are investigating whether feed given to buffalo herds, which produce the best milk for mozzarella, was tainted, possibly by gangsters involved in illegal waste disposal.

The scandal is the latest blow to the cheese which used to be seen as by-word for fresh and natural Italian produce.

Police investigate dioxin in Italian mozzarella- elEconomista.

As we head into a police state.

MIAMI (Reuters) - Miami police could soon be the first in the United States to use cutting-edge, spy-in-the-sky technology to beef up their fight against crime.

A small pilotless drone manufactured by Honeywell International, capable of hovering and "staring" using electro-optic or infrared sensors, is expected to make its debut soon in the skies over the Florida Everglades.

If use of the drone wins Federal Aviation Administration approval after tests, the Miami-Dade Police Department will start flying the 14-pound (6.3 kg) drone over urban areas with an eye toward full-fledged employment in crime fighting.

"Our intentions are to use it only in tactical situations as an extra set of eyes," said police department spokesman Juan Villalba.

"We intend to use this to benefit us in carrying out our mission," he added, saying the wingless Honeywell aircraft, which fits into a backpack and is capable of vertical takeoff and landing, seems ideally suited for use by SWAT teams in hostage situations or dealing with "barricaded subjects."

Spy-in-the-sky drone sets sights on Miami | Lifestyle | Living | Reuters

Pre Market - Trader Talk with Bob Pisani - CNBC.com

Futures jumped about 6 points as both weekly jobless claims and Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE, an indicator of the average increase in prices for domestic consumption), came in a bit below expectations. The dollar rallied on the PCE news (lower inflation is dollar-positive).

Start of a trend? South Korea's National Pension Service says it will no longer buy U.S. Treasurys; they cite falling yields and a desire to broaden their investments. They are the world's fifth largest pension fund, with $220 b in asets; they hold $14 b in U.S. government debt. It's not the size of their holdings (relatively small compared to the nearly $5 trillion in U.S. debt), the concern is that it may be the start of a trend.

Pre Market Trading Indications

Gapping up in reaction to strong earnings/guidance: SOLF +10.2%, CTRN +9.4%, CAG +8.8%, SATC +7.6%, WTSLA +4.6%, JST +4.4%, SY +3.5%, CHU +2.7%... M&A news: PEAK +23.8% (to be acquired by S&G Company for $2/share in cash)...
Select European financial names trading higher following strength in overseas trading: UBS +4.6%, BCS +2.3%, HBC +2.4%... Select solar names showing strength: ASTIZ +22.0%, ASTI +17.9% (Hydro increases stake to 35% in Ascent Solar), CSUN +4.2% (ests raised at Jefferies), ESLR +3.0%, EMKR +2.9%, TSL +2.4%, JASO +2.2%, STP +2.1%, CSIQ +2.0%, YGE +1.4%, FSLR +1.3%, LDK +1.1%...
Other news: MF +16.5% (enhances its agreement with Man Group; the new arrangement will ultimately remove the need for MF to allocate up to $800 mln of its existing liquidity), CCU +12.6% (says wins ruling on $20 bln buyout - Reuters; Bain Cap, Lee Partners file suit vs banks on CCU deal - WSJ), PRXI +10.8% (discloses court ruling), LMC +5.1% (still checking), STAN +4.6% (contract awards for Yankee Stadium, Washington Square office complex, Columbus City Center), NED +3.7% (announces that its board has authorized a program to repurchase Noah ADSs), AAUK +3.2% (reportedly isn't interested in merger with Xstrata-FT), SSL +3.2% (still checking), RMBS +2.9% (confirms that the co wins coordinated trial against Memory Manufacturers; RMBS was awarded $133.6 mln in damages), RTP +2.8% (seek talks with Chinalco on Rio Tinto stake - Bloomberg.com), CHL +2.7% (still checking), MU +2.7% (RMBS was awarded $133.6 mln in damages in case against Micron and others), BHP +2.6% (seek talks with Chinalco on Rio Tinto stake - Bloomberg.com), TSO +2.3% (up in sympathy with VLO upgrade), MICC +2.1% (still checking), BPFH +1.6% (repurchased $107.5 mln of its outstanding 3.00% Contingent Convertible Senior Notes due 2027)...
Analyst upgrades: COMS +4.2% (upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Bernstein), VLO +2.9% (upgraded to Buy at Deutsche Bank), OMRI +2.6% (initiated with Buy at UBS), CN +2.5% (upgraded to Buy at Merrill), CRK +2.1% (upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Raymond James), KLAC +2.0% (upgraded to Outperform at Friedman Billings), DLB +1.9% (upgraded to Equal Wt at Morgan Stanley), SEED +1.4% (resumed with Buy at Maxim), HAL +1.1% (upgraded to Outperform at RBC), FXI +1.1% (hearing upgraded at tier 1 firm), NBR +1.1% (upgraded to Outperform at RBC).

Pre Market Up & Down Grades

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (ARUN, BLK, COMS, DLB, HAL, JNPR, MOT, OMRX, QLGC, STX, AUY)

Aruba Networks (NASDAQ: ARUN) Cut To Sell From Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
BlackRock (NYSE: BLK) Cut To Underperform From Neutral at Credit Suisse.
3Com (NASDAQ: COMS) Raised To Outperform From Market Perform at Bernstein.
Dolby Labs (NYSE: DLB) Raised To Equalweight at Morgan Stanley.
Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) Raised To Outperform From Sector Perform at RBC.
Juniper Networks (NASDAQ: JNPR) Cut To Neutral From Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Motorola (NYSE: MOT) Cut To Neutral From Buy at Bank Of America.
Omrix Biopharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: OMRX) Started At Buy at UBS.
QLogic (NASDAQ: QLGC) Cut To Underweight From Neutral at JP Morgan.
Seagate Technology (NYSE: STX) Cut To Neutral From Outperform at Baird.
Yamana Gold (NYSE: AUY) Cut To Sector Perform at CIBC.

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NYSE Arca Pre Market Trading

NYSE Arca Morning Update for Thursday, Mar 27, 2008 :

Stocks trading on NYSE Arca at a price more than 15% away from the previous trade day's consolidated close price. (As of 08:30:00 ET)

Stock	Wednesday's Close	Current Price	Pct Chng	Current NYSE Arca Vol
EXAS	$2.73	$0.50	( 82%)	5,000
ASTI	$11.95	$13.75	15%	1,405

10 Most Active stocks on NYSE Arca as of 08:30:00 ET

Based on Dollar Volume:

Based on Share Volume:

Stock	Dollar Volume
SPY	$224,477,865
QQQQ	$88,146,279
CCU	$18,944,411
SAP	$16,188,128
GOOG	$14,634,596
IWM	$13,221,264
AAPL	$6,874,189
UBS	$6,389,319
ORCL	$5,367,753
BP	$2,508,009

Stock	Share Volume
QQQQ	1,987,311
SPY	1,678,842
CCU	625,193
SAP	331,904
ORCL	278,303
UBS	209,707
SOLF	194,404
IWM	189,318
RMBS	78,465
ASML	73,728

NYSE Arca Pre Market Trading

Pre Market Trading Gaps

Gapping up: CTRN +13.4%, MF +10.0%, CAG +9.6%, ASTI +6.4%, CCU +5.8%, LMC +4.8%, RMBS +4.4%, MU +2.7%, BHP +2.6%, UBS +2.6%, RTP +2.5%, SSL +2.5%, VLO +2.1%, HBC +1.7%...

Gapping down: ORCL -8.8%, RBN -5.4%, SAP -3.3%, GOOG -2.9%, XL -2.9%, FMD -2.7%, PAYX -2.6%, JNPR -2.4%, NS -1.8%, CHK -1.8%, IBM -1.6%, MER -1.6%, AMR -1.0%.

Wall St. Warrior: Pre-Market