The Justice Department announced today that it has opened a civil pattern or practice investigation into the Newark, N.J., Police Department involving allegations of use of excessive force, discriminatory policing, whether detainees confined to holding cells are subjected to unreasonable risk of harm and whether officers retaliate against citizens who legally attempt to observe or record police activity. The investigation is in accordance with the pattern or practice provision of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, the anti-discrimination provisions of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The Justice Department will determine whether there are systemic violations of the constitution or federal law by officers of the NPD. During the course of the investigation, the Justice Department will consider all relevant information, including all efforts that Newark has undertaken to ensure compliance with federal law. The Justice Department has engaged in similar reviews of a variety of state and local law enforcement agencies, both large and small, in jurisdictions such as New York, Ohio, Washington, Pennsylvania, the District of Columbia, Louisiana and California.
Sysco (NYSE: SYY) says “committed to looking for acquisition opportunities… sees strategic pricing initiatives growing market share… doesn’t see increasing share repurchase program now.”
CME Group Inc. (Nasdaq: CME) today announced that its board of directors has authorized a return of capital to shareholders through a share buyback program of up to $750 million of CME Group Class A common stock, subject to market conditions. The buyback program will take place over a period of up to 12 months.
Valeant (NYSE: VRX) CEO says, “disappointed in Cephalon (NASDAQ: CEPH) outcome…. in `active discussions’ with potential targets… no urgency to pursue any acquisition… not ruling out future hostile bids… $500M remaining in buyback program.”
River Associates Investments, LLC announced today that it has sold its interest in Coining Holding Company to AMETEK, Inc (NYSE: AME) for $148 million, in a transaction that generated a gross internal rate of return of 76% and over 6x its original investment.
There is another recall stemming from high lead in a game made in China.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced over the weekend a voluntary recall of approximately 600 Toy Story 3 Bowling Games that were sold in Walmart (NYSE: WMT) in the U.S. between September 1-25, 2010.
Toy Story was produced by Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS).
Germany’s Spiegel Online reported Friday that insiders in the Greek government leaked the news that Athens was considering leaving the Euro.
Greece has been wracked with debt problems for years, and some economists have called for the country to abandon the Euro. Last March, British economists at the Centre for Economics and Business Research told Greek ministers that without leaving the Euro and devaluing their own currency, they will be unable to escape the nation’s debt trap.
Sovereign nations with their own currency can finance their deficits through central bank monetary expansion—a policy the U.S. has been following since the economic downturn. However, Greece cannot adopt such a policy as the decision to expand or contract the money supply is controlled by the European Central Bank.
Until now, the Greek government has not considered such a shift, instead choosing to accept a series of bailout packages and fiscal austerity measures. The failure of these measures is evidenced in the series of protests that have rocked the Mediterranean nation.
The Euro was down Friday on the news, though it has subsequently rallied on EU officials strong denial of the rumor. Traders wishing to play Euro weakness should consider a short Euro ETF such as ProShares UltraShort Euro (NYSE: EUO).
Should Greece decide to the exit the Euro, it could prove disastrous for the currency. While Greece’s debt problems may be bearish for the Euro, for Greece to exit would set a dangerous precedent. Other nations in the Eurozone facing debt problems—most notably Ireland, Spain, and Portugal—could decide to abandon the currency as well, which could be the beginning of the end for the pan-European currency.
Improvement in first time unemployment claims is slowing. Actual, not seasonally manipulated data, including an adjustment for the usual weekly upward revision, shows that the year to year rate of change is on the cusp of a possible upside breakout, which would be good news for stock market bears if it happens.
Initial Unemployment Claims Chart- Click to enlarge
Here’s why it’s mind blowing. I’ve plotted it below on an inverse scale with the S&P 500 overlaid.
Unemployemt Claims and Stock Prices - Click to enlarge
Major US Markets including (NYSEARCA:DIA), (NYSEARCA:SPY), (NASDAQ:QQQ), and (NYSEARCA:IWM) dropped over 3% each on Italian bond fears and an increased worry that Europe will not be able to bail out its 4th largest economy. Furthermore, the iShares MCSI Italy Fund (NYSEARCA:EWI) wiped out over 9% today, further illustrating the dire situation in Italy and the European Union: ...
The second economic disappointment of the day comes from the Dallas Fed, which dropped from -2.0 to -11.4 on expectations of -9.0- this was the 4th consecutive negative print month. The report was, in a word, horrible, with just 2 of the 15 constituent indices posting an increase, and the bulk solidly in the red, led by Unfilled and New Orders which dropped 16.8 and 11.2, respectively: not good for economic growth. On the employment side there was nothing good either, with both employment and hours worked declining by -...
Bloomberg reports that Diana Containerships (NASDAQ: DCIX) files to offer stock up to $172.5M. Diana Containerships says that Diana shipping will also buy $20M of stock.
Top 5 RisersStockRatingAnalysisVLOSTRONGBUYAn increasingly positive growth rate of past earnings, along with improving expectations for long term growth, make Valero a good prospect for high returns.KROSTRONGBUYKronos Worldwide has been gaining recognition from analysts as a good canditate for achieving higher than expected earnings along with higher overall projected valuation.SFIBUYiStar is one of the top candidates projected to achieve both higher than previously projected earnings in the short run and a higher earnings growth rate in the long run.AMATSTRONGBUYApplied Materials has been...
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February is now past, and the Biotech Porfolio is loaded with winners and a miss (PLX). MRK is down a bit, but I expect that trade to recover, and one could be more agressive and double down on it, or play another round at the Jan13 $30 options for roughly the same price. Below is the summary, and note the grey boxes are ones that did not fill. I am still a fan of BMRN, and like DEPO as well. Now let's look at a few others.
Table 1. PSW Biotech Plays Since January 2011
 
Our newest play is Momenta Pharmaceuticals (MNTA), who is pursuing a three-part business model which includes complex generic equivalents in partnership with the Sandoz division of Novartis, proprietary compounds, and follow-on- biologics (FOB). It seems that this company is tied up in competition/litigation wit...
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