May 21, 2008

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

When host Whoopi Goldberg raised the issue of George W. Bush’s comparing anyone who wants to talk to Iran or Syria with the appeasers of Nazi Germany on Monday’s edition of ABC’s The View, the panel erupted into furious debate.

Conservative Elizabeth Hasselbeck repeatedly attempted to question whether Bush’s remarks were really aimed at Barack Obama. She insisted, "It’s not always about him," and suggested Obama is being defensive because he knows his support for talks with Iran is a weak spot.

"I think the president was very clear in what he meant," Goldberg replied tartly.

"The Bush administration is out there talking to North Korea, talking to Syria," noted liberal Joy Behar. "Isn’t that what diplomacy is about? This guy doesn’t know the difference between the word ‘diplomacy’ and ‘appeasement.’ He’s just stupid."

"One more point," continued Behar, pulling out a prepared statement. "It’s very interesting and ironic that George Bush, Senior’s — er, George Bush, this one — his grandfather — this one — the late — I don’t like to speak ill of the dead, but in this case it’s fun — he was a United States senator, Prescott Bush. Okay — he was a director and shareholder of companies that profited from their involvement with the financial backers of Nazi Germany."

"This is his grandfather," Behar continued. "He has no business talking to Jewish people when he’s got this right in his backyard."

"How come you can bring up this backyard but then it’s not alright to dig into Obama’s backyard and family history?" was all the flustered Hasselbeck could find to say.

RAW STORY’s Larisa Alexandrovna also cited the Prescott Bush connection last week. In her blog, at-Largely, she wrote:

Dear Mr. Bush,

Your speech on the Knesset floor today was not only a disgrace; it was nothing short of treachery. Worse still, your exploitation of the Holocaust in a country carved out of the wounds of that very crime, in order to strike a low blow at American citizens whose politics differs from your own is unforgivable and unpardonable. …

Well Mr. Bush, the only thing this comment lacked was a mirror and some historical facts. You want to discuss the crimes of Nazis against my family and millions of other families in Europe during World War II? Let me revive a favorite phrase of yours: Bring. It. On!

Your family’s fortune is built on the bones of the very people butchered by the Nazis, my family and the families of those in the Knesset who applauded you today. …

You family did not stop with supporting fascists and Nazis abroad, did they Mr. Bush? Surely you must know of your grandfather’s role in the treasonous plot of 1933 to overthrow democracy in America? Let me remind you.

Grandpa Bush - that is to say, your grandfather - wanted fascism imported into the United States, or as you now call this type of transformation, "exporting democracy." Prescott went so far as to subsidize a coup attempt in order to achieve his dream of a fascist America.

This video is from ABC’s The View, broadcast May 19, 2008.

Alex Jones' Infowars: There's a war on for your mind!

More proof of Prescott bush's nazi connections:

Trader Talk: Oil Slaps Down Stocks, Retail Apparel A Bright Spot - Trader Talk with Bob Pisani - CNBC.com

How much is oil slapping around stocks? Futures were up about 5 points until about 6 AM, when oil hit $130. Market sold off immediately.

Europe started stronger (Germany's IFO business confidence number rose unexpectedly), but rolled over about three hours ago, just as oil hit $130. Dollar falls to a four-week low vs. the Euro.

Elsewhere:

1) Talbots

Talbots Inc

TLB

7.44 UNCH 0%

NYSE

Quote | Chart | News | Profile

[TLB 7.44 --- UNCH (0%)

] handily beat expectations and maintained 2008 earnings guidance; up 14 percent pre-open.

2) Once again, we are seeing off-price apparel stores doing well. This morning Ross Stores

Ross Stores Inc

ROST

34.92 UNCH 0%

NASDAQ

Quote | Chart | News | Profile

[ROST 34.92 --- UNCH (0%) ] reported good earnings, and more importantly gave guidance for the current quarter and the full year above analyst expectations. They are forecasting same store sales gains of 1 to 3 percent, a rarity in retail these days.

3) Airlines down a bit again this morning, as Soleil--which describes itself as "perhaps the last bullish holdout on the airline sector," gave up the ghost as oil hit $130. They drop AMR

AMR Corp

AMR

8.2 UNCH 0%

NYSE

Quote | Chart | News | Profile

[AMR 8.2 --- UNCH (0%)

] and United to a sell. British Airways [BAB 40.65 --- UNCH (0%)

] CEO was on our air this morning, saying there will be airline failures in this cycle.

4) Hewlett Packard

Hewlett-Packard Co

HPQ

46.46 UNCH 0%

NYSE

Quote | Chart | News | Profile

[HPQ 46.46 --- UNCH (0%)

] down fractionally as they beat estimates. Not surprisingly, strong growth overseas offset a weak U.S. market. PLEASE NOTE: 69 percent of Hewlett's revenues are now generated outside the U.S.

Guidance for the (current) third quarter unchanged. Fiscal 2008 guidance of $3.54-$3.58 about in line with estimates of $3.54.

5) Much chatter about market rotation today, after S&P announced that the technology sector had overtaken financials in market value. This is the first time that has happened since 2002. The energy sector is up about 10 percent this month, and closed yesterday at an historic high.

Bob Pisani's Trader Talk: Oil Slaps Down Stocks, Retail Apparel A Bright Spot - Trader Talk with Bob Pisani - CNBC.com

PreMarket Trading Indications

Gapping down in reaction to disappointing earnings/guidance: VRTU -11.9%, QXM -10.4% (very light volume), LTXX -9.7%, RRGB -6.9%, ADI -4.9% (also downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at Pacific Crest), CHRS -4.8%, PHHM -4.1%...

Select European financial names trading lower following weakness in overseas trading: RBS -3.7% , UBS -2.9% , HBC -1.6% , CS -1.4% , DB -1.2% , ING -1.1%...

Other news: PEIX -6.2% (modestly pulling back after this week's 40%+surge higher), CCL -4.7% (still checking for anything specific, crude making new all time highs again; peer RCL -0.8%), PKX -3.1% (still checking), PCX -2.1% (announces $175 mln convertible note offering)...

Analyst downgrades: UAUA -4.0% (downgraded to Sell at Soleil), AMR -3.7% (downgraded to Sell at Soleil), CLR -2.9% (downgraded to Neutral at JPMorgan), FSLR -2.3% (downgraded to Underperform at FBR), CAL -2.1% (downgraded to Hold at Soleil), NETC -1.8% (downgraded to Neutral at Merrill), ENS -1.5% (downgraded to Hold at Merriman), EP -1.2% (hearing downgraded to Neutral and removed from America Buy List at tier 1 firm).

Gapping up in reaction to strong earnings/guidance: SOLF +10.1%, DY +7.5% (also announces $15 mln stock repurchase program), EGHT +4.3%, OCNF +4.1%, INTU +3.8%...

Select drybulk shipping names showing strength: EGLE +2.4%, PRGN +2.0%, SBLK +1.8%, DRYS +1.8%, EXM +1.8%, TBSI +1.4%...

Select oil/gas stocks showing strength with crude setting another all time high: RDS.A +3.1%, E +2.3%, BP +1.9%, TOT +1.8%...

Other news: ADLR +19.2% (Adolor and GSK's Entereg wins FDA approval), IDEV +7.7% (presents "successful" Phase III NEBIDO data at American Urological Association), CEO +4.8% (still checking), CEGE +3.2% (reports "encouraging" interim data from phase 1 clinical trial of CG0070 in recurrent bladder cancer), DNDN +3.2% (presents preclinical data demonstrating activity of Trp-p8 agonist, D-3263, in benign prostatic hyperplasia), TWX +2.2% (Time Warner and Time Warner Cable confirm separation)...

Analyst upgrades: CSUN +6.0% (upgraded to Hold at Jefferies), MU +3.4% (upgraded to Buy at Deutsche Bank), CENT +2.1% (upgraded to Outperform at Piper), MDT +1.1% (upgraded to Buy at tier 1 firm), RIO +1.0% (hearing named as top sector picks in Basic Materials at tier 1 firm).

Gapping up: SOLF +19.3%, ADLR +19.2%, IDEV +7.7%, DY +7.5%, INTU +5.1%, OCNF +4.1%, MU +3.5%, TWX +2.2%, BP +1.9%, TOT +1.8%...

Gapping down: VRTU -8.1%, RRGB -6.9%, LTXX -4.7%, CCL -4.7%, PCX -3.4%, UBS -2.9%.

NYSE Arca Morning Update

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	Tuesday's Close	Current Price	Pct Chng	Current NYSE Arca Vol
ADLR	$5.37	$6.18	15%	136,150
TLB	$7.39	$8.50	15%	5,127

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	$132,438,013
QQQQ	$25,548,351
IWM	$15,522,291
SOLF	$12,174,439
USO	$11,586,207
FSLR	$8,716,802
RDS.A	$8,601,536
GOOG	$6,795,463
GLD	$5,772,134
BP	$4,631,321

Stock	Share Volume
SPY	935,690
QQQQ	519,552
SOLF	427,130
IWM	211,275
ALU	170,001
ADLR	136,150
USO	110,225
CCL	109,874
DUG	101,557
RDS.A	97,800

NYSE Arca Morning Update

Opening View: Analog Devices, Intuit, and H-P Join Tech Earnings Parade

In earnings news, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ: sentiment, chart, options) reported that its second-quarter profit rose to $2.1 billion, or 80 cents per share. Revenue jumped to $28.3 billion from $25.5 billion. Excluding one-time items, H-P would have earned $2.2 billion, or 87 cents per share. Looking ahead, the company estimates it will earn 76 cents to 77 cents per share on revenue between $27.3 billion and $27.4 billion. Both second-quarter and third-quarter figures were in line with H-P's guidance issued last week.

Meanwhile, Analog Devices (ADI: sentiment, chart, options) reported a second-quarter profit of $133.1 million, or 45 cents per share. Excluding items, earnings would have arrived at 44 cents per share. Revenue rose to $649.3 million from $597.5 million last year. Analysts were looking for a profit of 41 cents per share on revenue of $627.3 million. For the third quarter, ADI forecast earnings from continuing operations of 43 cents to 45 cents per share on revenue of $650 million to $665 million. Analysts estimate a profit of 43 cents per share on revenue of $639.3 million.

Outside of earnings news, Time Warner (TWX: sentiment, chart, options) said it would separate from Time Warner Cable (TWC: sentiment, chart, options) , and expects to receive a $9.25 billion dividend in the process. "We're bullish on Time Warner Cable's prospects, but its strategic goals and capital needs are increasingly different from those of our other businesses," said Jeff Bewkes, president and chief executive of Time Warner.

Rounding out our coverage this morning, Intuit (INTU: sentiment, chart, options) reported that third-quarter profit arrived at $444.2 million, or $1.33 per share. Revenue rose 15% to $1.31 billion. Excluding special items, quarterly earnings would have been $1.39 per share, topping analyst estimates for $1.36 per share.

Opening View: Analog Devices, Intuit, and H-P Join Tech Earnings Parade