Market Strategy

SPX gainers: NYX,NE,BCR,COG,CME,PPL,THC,CFN,TRIP

SPX laggards: FSLR,XL,ANR,PBI,X,GME,ATI,RRD,S, CLF

U.S. stocks fell, snapping a five-week-rally for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, amid concern plans to help Greece avoid default were unraveling and as confidence among American consumers dropped more than forecast.
The S&P 500 declined 9.31 points or 0.69 percent to 1,342.64 in New York, the most since Dec. 28. The benchmark gauge for American equities has fallen 0.2 percent since Feb. 3, snapping the longest weekly rally since January 2011.
Declining stocks swamped gainers by nearly 5:1 with volume once again on the light side with less than 700M shares changing hands on the big board. The Nasdaq showed about 3 decliners for each gainer with volume slipping to 1.77B shares.
All 10 sectors of the S&P 500 finished the session in the red led by a 1.96% decline in basic materials and a 1.02% loss for the oil & gas shares.

Treasuries rose for the first time in four days as European finance ministers withheld a rescue package for Greece pending the nation’s approval of fiscal austerity measures.
Investors sought the relative safety of U.S. debt as stocks fell and Greece’s Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said a parliamentary vote set to begin this weekend amounted to a ballot on euro membership. Volatility in the Treasury market increased from an eight-month low.
Yields on 10-year notes slid eight basis points, or 0.08 percentage point, to 1.96 percent in New York trading.

European stocks fell for the fourth time in five days as a leader in Greece’s coalition government said he won’t support more spending cuts demanded by the region’s finance ministers.
National Bank of Greece SA tumbled 9.5 percent. Saab AB plunged 8.6 percent after fourth-quarter earnings and sales missed analysts’ estimates. Alcatel-Lucent jumped 12 percent after saying adjusted operating margins will increase in 2012.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index dropped 0.9 percent to 261.24 at the close in London, wrapping up a weekly loss to 1.3 percent. The gauge has still advanced 6.8 percent this year amid optimism that the euro area will contain its debt crisis and that the U.S. economic recovery remains intact.

Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos told members of his government they must back deeper budget cuts needed to prevent financial collapse or quit, as political dissension threatened to unwind the country’s second bailout.
Papademos said failure to secure the 130 billion-euro ($171 billion) rescue package that’s under negotiation threatened 11 million Greeks with a default that would halt the payment of wages and pensions and shut down schools, hospitals and businesses. He spoke after five ministers resigned in two hours and protesters clashed with police in Athens.
“Some say default would be preferable,” Papademos told a Cabinet meeting in Athens this evening, according to an e-mailed transcript from his office. “They are woefully mistaken. What is of the essence right now is to do whatever we can to approve the new plan and let the loan accord proceed.” (Bloomberg)

Greece’s implementation of a measure that imposes losses on investors who fail to support the nation’s debt restructuring would qualify as a selective default, according to Standard & Poor’s.
The application of the so-called retroactive collective action clauses that modify the amount or timing of debt payments would result in the New York-based firm downgrading Greece to SD, or selective default, S&P said today in a statement.
Greek-law-governed debt will be cut to D from CC should the nation’s parliament pass laws that allow the amending of the securities retroactively to include CACs, S&P said. Greek bonds that aren’t governed by Greek law and aren’t affected by the change would keep their CC ranking, 10 steps below investment- grade. The notes would be lowered to D “if and when they became eligible for the upcoming debt exchange.” (Bloomberg)

Germany may be willing to study revising the terms of Portugal’s bailout, Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told his Portuguese counterpart in Brussels in a conversation picked up by Portuguese television.
Germany will “be ready” for an adjustment of the Portuguese program if needed, Schaeuble told Finance Minister Vitor Gaspar at a meeting of European officials yesterday. He said it was key that a decision first be made on Greece. (Bloomberg)

President Barack Obama will project a deficit of $901 billion next year when he submits his fiscal 2013 budget to Congress on Feb. 13, according to two administration officials.
The forecast is based on the assumption Congress accepts all the White House’s policy recommendations for everything from ending Bush-era tax cuts for families earning $250,000 or more to programs for education, infrastructure and manufacturers. (Bloomberg)

Late payments on office and retail property loans packaged into bonds rose to record highs last month even as the overall commercial-mortgage bond delinquency rate declined, according to Fitch Ratings.
The delinquency rate on shopping malls and other types of retail buildings increased 32 basis points to 7.21 percent in January, while office late payments climbed 46 basis points to 7.30 percent, Fitch said in a statement today. The rate encompassing all property types, including apartment complexes and hotels, fell five basis points to 8.32 percent, according to the rating company.
A plunge in the delinquency rate for multifamily loans led to the drop in the overall rate. Late payments on apartment debt decreased 165 basis points to 12.77 percent in January, according to Fitch. Hotel delinquencies rose 19 basis points to 12.21 percent, Fitch said.

Confidence among U.S. consumers declined more than forecast in February as growing optimism about job prospects failed to ease concern wages will stagnate.
The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary index of consumer sentiment dropped to 72.5 from 75 in January, a one-year high. The median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey called for 74.8. Another report showed the nation’s trade gap widened in December.
A 22-cent increase in the price of a gallon of gasoline this year is pinching household finances, serving as a reminder that the pickup in hiring has yet to boost incomes. Consumer spending may hold up as the report showed more Americans believed the jobless rate will drop than at any time in the past three decades.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the central bank’s efforts to spur economic growth are being blunted by impediments to mortgage lending, and he called for further steps to heal the housing market.
“We have helped lower mortgage rates to the lowest point in many, many decades,” Bernanke told homebuilders today in Orlando, Florida. “Yet we are not seeing as much activity as we would like to see.”
Gold fell, capping the first weekly loss this year, after European finance ministers held back on approving a rescue package for Greece, curbing prospects for global growth and commodity demand.
The dollar jumped as much as 0.8 percent against a basket of currencies after a leader of Greece’s governing coalition pushed back against German demands for deeper budget cuts to get the bailout needed to prevent a financial collapse. The Standard & Poor’s GSCI Spot Index of 24 raw materials fell as much 1.5 percent. Gold has climbed 27 percent in the past year.
Capital SA in Panama, said in an e-mail.
Gold futures for April delivery dropped 1.15 percent to settle $1,721.10 an ounce on the Comex in New York. Prices dropped 0.9 percent this week, the first such loss since Dec. 30.

The MF Global Inc. brokerage has a shortfall of at least $1.6 billion to pay commodity customers’ claims, the trustee liquidating the firm said.
James Giddens, the trustee, gave the estimate today after counting allowable customer claims and the assets under his control. Giddens previously estimated the shortfall at about $1.2 billion and has now folded in $700 million that he is disputing with the administrators of MF Global’s U.K. affiliate. The “gap,” which applies to commodities customers who traded on U.S. and foreign exchanges, will change over time as claims are processed and assets recovered, he said.

Google Inc., the world’s largest Internet-search company, is developing an entertainment device that will rely on wireless home networks, according to a filing with the Federal Communications Commission.
The testing is slated to take place in Mountain View, California, where Google is based, along with three other cities, according to the filing. Google’s testing of 252 devices was scheduled to begin in January and continue to July. (Bloomberg)

Oil prices fell Friday with a critical bailout plan for Greece's economy in limbo, again raising the specter of bank failures and bankruptcies in Europe.
The European Union has struggled for years with massive government debts. Investors worry that the festering credit crisis will spread to the rest of Europe, further slowing down the EU economy and reducing demand for oil.
Benchmark crude fell by $1.17 to end the week at $98.67 per barrel in New York. Brent crude fell by $1.28 to finish at $117.31 per barrel in London. (AP)

The federal budget deficit fell sharply in January compared to a year earlier, as an improving economy lifts income tax revenue.
The deficit is on track to shrink this year, but the red ink will still run deep: it is forecast to top $1 trillion for the fourth year in a row. That's likely to mean that budget issues in Congress will remain high-profile and contentious this year.
The deficit declined to $27 billion last month, from $50 billion in January 2011, the Treasury Department said Friday. Most of the drop was due to several accounting changes. The biggest resulted in some benefit payments being made in December rather than January.

California collected $528 million less in taxes in January than Governor Jerry Brown estimated in his latest budget, Controller John Chiang said.
The majority of the shortfall was in income taxes, down $525 million, or 6.3 percent less than projected in the spending plan Brown released Jan. 5, Chiang said. Corporate taxes were down $127.9 million, while sales taxes were up $42.8 million.
California’s cash may be exhausted by March, Chiang reported Jan. 31. The nation’s most-populous state will need $3.3 billion by mid-April, without additional borrowing and payment delays, because it has spent more and received less than anticipated for the current fiscal year. (Bloomberg)

SPX gainers: GNW,GILD,THC,LEN,PHM,WHR,SHLD,NOV

SPX laggards: EW,WYNN,IGT,KMX,AON,UNH,NEM,BBY,

Stocks surged, extending the best start to a year for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index since 1989, and Treasuries slid as better-than-forecast growth in U.S. jobs bolstered optimism in the economy. Lead, aluminum and cotton led commodities higher while gold, silver and natural gas fell.
The S&P 500 increased 1.5 percent to 1,344.70 at 4 p.m. in New York and is up 6.9 percent in 2012. Yields on 10-year U.S. Treasury notes climbed 11 basis points to 1.93 percent, the biggest increase since November. The Dollar Index slipped 0.1, erasing earlier gains. Oil rebounded from a six-week low.
The S&P 500 is poised for a fifth straight weekly gain, its longest streak in a year, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average is trading above its highest closing level since 2008. The 243,000 increase in payrolls was the most since April and exceeded all forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey. The unemployment rate dropped to 8.3 percent, the lowest since February 2009. Equities extended gains after a gauge of service industries also showed faster-than-forecast growth.
Gainers dominated decliners by better than 13:2 with volume on the moderate side with 854M shares changing hands on the big board. The Nasdaq posted nearly 4 gainers for each decliner with volume rising to 2.15B shares. Financials led the way gaining 2.65%, oil & gas shares gained 1.9%, and industrials 1.75% and basic materials added 1.5%.

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said reports on the U.S. economy, including today’s better-than-forecast employment data, indicate that more Fed purchases of bonds aren’t necessary.
“The economic news and economic data, including today’s data, has been surprising to the upside,” Bullard said today in a Bloomberg News interview. “I need to see significant deterioration in the economy and some threat of deflation or inflation moving significantly below our inflation target before I would consider more QE,” he said, referring to bond purchases known as quantitative easing.

Treasuries fell, pushing 10-year note yields up the most in almost three months, as the economy added more jobs in January than forecast, casting doubt on the Federal Reserve’s pledge to keep interest rates low through 2014.
Yields on 30-year bonds rose to the highest in a week as an unexpected drop in the unemployment rate eased concern Europe’s
debt crisis is stalling the U.S. recovery. The difference between yields on 10-year notes and the inflation-indexed securities of the same maturity was the widest since October. The U.S. will auction $72 billion in notes and bonds next week.
Yields on benchmark 10-year notes rose 11 basis points, or
0.11 percentage point, to 1.93 percent in New York,

European stocks posted the biggest weekly gain this year, sending the Stoxx Europe 600 Index to its highest level in six months, as manufacturing increased globally and the U.S. jobless rate fell to the lowest in three years.
Xstrata Plc and Glencore International Plc surged more than 13 percent after the world’s largest publicly traded commodities trader held talks to buy the Zug, Switzerland-based mining company. Temenos Group AG rallied 20 percent as Misys Plc, the British maker of software for banks, said it has held talks about a merger with the Swiss company.
The Stoxx 600 climbed 3.6 percent to 264.6 this week, extending the January rally of 4 percent that was the best start to a year since 1998. The equity gauge has gained 8.2 percent in 2012 and is up 23 percent since its 2 1/2-year low on Sept. 22. (Bloomberg)

The Bank of England will raise its target for asset purchases next week as the debt crisis in Europe may have already pushed Britain’s economy into a second recession.
The nine-member Monetary Policy Committee led by Governor Mervyn King will increase its bond-purchase program by 50 billion pounds ($79 billion) to 325 billion pounds, according to 35 of 51 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. Fifteen economists forecast a 75 billion-pound increase, and one no change. (Bloomberg)

Greece may conclude a seven-month effort to wrap up its second bailout in the coming days with the country’s stability hanging in the balance.
A plan that’s been in the works since July may emerge from parallel talks among caretaker Prime Minister Lucas Papademos’s
coalition members; international monitors and Greek officials; and Greece’s government and its creditors, as well as tussles involving European central bankers and political leaders.
“We are in the final phase of this very critical process to shape a new financing program for Greece and to complete the loan agreement which will lighten the burden of public debt and ensure funding for years to come,” Papademos said in a statement today in Athens. The plan will help “restore fiscal stability, improve competitiveness, revive the economy and increase employment.”(Bloomberg)

Bank of America Corp., the second-largest U.S. lender by assets, may sell all its offices as part of the company’s effort to cut costs, sparing only its headquarters in North Carolina and New York City.
“We are currently reviewing all of our properties across our portfolio, with the exception of Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte and Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park” in Manhattan, Kelli Raulerson, a spokeswoman, said today. The lender owned or leased about 120 million square feet in 26,910 locations at the end of 2010, mostly in the U.S., according to its last annual report. (Bloomberg)

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is seeking offers for more of the mortgage bonds assumed in the government rescue of American International Group Inc. after a potential buyer approached the central bank, three people with knowledge of the matter said.
The auction, which may come as soon as next week, may involve about $6 billion of debt, said one of the people, who declined to be identified because the potential transaction is private. The central bank said it sold $7.01 billion in face value of the securities held by its Maiden Lane II vehicle on Jan. 19 to Credit Suisse Group AG after being approached with a bid by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (Bloomberg)

Investments in commodities are expanding at the quickest pace in six years on signs of rising economic growth, even as JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. warn that some prices have rallied too fast.
The number of futures contracts on 24 commodities from oil to copper rose 9.3 percent last month, the most since January 2006, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Speculators are the most bullish since November, Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show. Gold and silver had the best start to a year since 1983, orange juice posted its biggest rally in more than three decades, the LMEX gauge of six industrial metals rose the most since 2006, and cattle futures advanced to a record. (Bloomberg)

Susan G. Komen for the Cure, a breast-cancer advocacy organization, reversed its decision to end $680,000 in funding for Planned Parenthood Federation of America Inc., and said it is changing its grant criteria as a result of controversy over the original ruling.
After Komen’s decision to end the grants became public, Planned Parenthood raised about $3 million in pledges from more than 10,000 donors, Cecile Richard, Planned Parenthood’s president, said in a call with reporters. Komen announced its reversal in a statement today with an apology “to the American public” from Chief Executive Officer Nancy Brinker.

Facebook Inc., the social-networking company that’s preparing for an initial public offering, had a valuation of at least $94 billion yesterday in an auction of its shares on the private market.
SharesPost Inc. completed an auction of 100,000 shares of Facebook’s Class B common stock, according to an e-mail obtained
by Bloomberg News. The shares were sold for a clearing price of $40 each, valuing the company at $94 billion based on a fully diluted share count of about 2.35 billion, according to SharesPost.

Plans by Genting Bhd., Asia’s second- biggest casino operator by market value, to build a 5,200-room resort overlooking Miami’s Biscayne Bay stalled when a Florida House of Representatives committee postponed a vote on a bill to expand casino gambling.
Today’s decision from the House Business and Consumer Affairs Subcommittee leaves little chance lawmakers will approve the issue this year. Representative Doug Holder, a Sarasota Republican and committee chairman, said the panel will not meet before the end of the legislative session March 9. (Bloomberg)

Steve Appleton, the chief executive officer of semiconductor-maker Micron Technology Inc., died after crashing an experimental plane in Boise, Idaho. He was 51.
Appleton was flying a private aircraft with a fixed wing and single engine, said Patty Miller, a spokeswoman for the Boise airport. Appleton, who was the only fatality, crashed between two runways at the airport, Miller said. (AP)

China will limit mortgage loans for home purchases by foreigners to stem overseas investment in its property market as part of efforts to cool prices.
The nation’s planning agency won’t approve medium- and long-term foreign debt quotas for overseas banks in 2012, if they intend to use such borrowings to fund mortgages taken out by foreigners, the National Development and Reform Commission said in a statement. (Bloomberg)

Morning Trend – US SPH futures are up 11.5 handles and the NDH futures are up 23 handles this morning. The 10-year T-Note is down 20 ticks the yield at 1.90% The dollar is mixed with the Euro trading @ $1.3154 Gold is down~$9@ ~$1747z. Crude is up 35c trading ~ $96.75 The vix closed at 17.98 Vix futures are down .65 at 18.50.

International Trend – European markets are sharply higher with Germany up 1.35% France +.65%, the UK is up +1.15%. European markets are being led higher by financials +1.8% and technology +1.5%. Euro Debt: is a little wider with Italy out 4bps (5.61%), and Spain is out 2bps @(4.90%) Asian Markets: Japan -.5%, HK +.1%, AUZ -.4% Emerging Markets: China +.8%, India +1%, Korea -.6%, Russia is +.7% and Brazil +.6%

Technical Trend: The SPX is getting a big boost from a very strong U.S. employment report. We are likely to open in the 1335-1340 area and the upside could lead to 1350. We would use this as an opportunity to build some cash or at least hedge long positions with puts in the SPX or QQQ. The vix is now below 18 and has confirmed the strong advance. We are clearly overbought but the markets can stay there for some time.

Economic Reports: Change in Nonfarm Payrolls for Jan. 243K vs. est. 140K, Change in Private Payrolls 257K vs. est. 160K, Change in Manf. Payrolls 50K, vs est. 12K, Unemployment rate for Jan. 8.3% vs. est. 8.5%, Average weekly hours worked 34.5 vs. est. 34.4. ISM Non-Manufacturing Composite for Jan est. 53.2 Factory Orders for Dec. est. 1.5%.

U.S. stock-index futures rallied after January employment growth topped economists’ estimates and the jobless rate dropped more than forecast to 8.3 percent.
Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index expiring next month climbed 0.8 percent to 1,333.8 at 8:31 a.m. in New York.
The 243,000 increase in payrolls was the most since April and exceeded all forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey, Labor Department figures showed in Washington. The unemployment rate dropped to 8.3 percent, the lowest since February 2009.

European stocks rose for a fourth day, extending a six-month high, after a report showed that the U.S. economy added more jobs last month than economists had predicted. U.S. index futures advanced, while Asian shares fell.
Temenos Group AG rallied 12 percent after Misys Plc, the British maker of software for banks, said it has held talks about a merger with the Swiss company. Admiral Group Plc surged 7.2 percent, the shares’ biggest rally in three years.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index gained 1.2 percent to 263.09 at 1:35 p.m. in London, climbing to its highest level since July 29. The benchmark measure is headed for a 3 percent advance this week. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index expiring in March climbed 0.9 percent today, while the MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.2 percent. (Bloomberg)

Employment climbed more than forecast in January and the U.S. jobless rate unexpectedly fell to the lowest in three years, casting doubt on whether the Federal Reserve can wait until 2014 before raising interest rates
The 243,000 increase in payrolls was the most since April and exceeded all forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey, Labor Department figures showed in Washington. The unemployment rate dropped to 8.3 percent, the lowest since February 2009.
The jump in hiring shows companies are gaining confidence the expansion will weather Europe’s slump and may boost President Barack Obama’s re-election bid. The data come one week after Fed policy makers said the economy wasn’t growing fast enough to push down the jobless rate, prompting them to extend a pledge to keep interest rates low for another two years. (Bloomberg)

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke defended the central bank’s newly established price goal and rejected suggestions he was prepared to allow higher inflation to create jobs.
“We are not seeking higher inflation,” Bernanke said yesterday in response to questioning from Republican Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, chairman of the House Budget Committee. “We do not want higher inflation and we’re not tolerating higher inflation.” (Bloomberg)

Even as the Securities and Exchange Commission has stepped up its investigations of Wall Street in the last decade, the agency has repeatedly allowed the biggest firms to avoid punishments specifically meant to apply to fraud cases.
By granting exemptions to laws and regulations that act as a deterrent to securities fraud, the S.E.C. has let financial giants like JPMorganChase, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America continue to have advantages reserved for the most dependable companies, making it easier for them to raise money from investors, for example, and to avoid liability from lawsuits if their financial forecasts turn out to be wrong. (NY Times)

Retail sales in the 17 countries that use the euro unexpectedly fell during the crucial month of December, official figures showed Friday, raising fears of a looming recession in the single currency bloc.
Eurostat, the EU's statistics office, said retail sales dropped 0.4 percent during the month, in contrast to expectations for an increase of the same amount.
Year-on-year, retail sales were down 1.6 percent as consumers hit by Europe's debt crisis continued to show a reluctance to reach into their wallets. (AP)

Prime Minister Wen Jiabao said Thursday that China would consider working with the International Monetary Fund to help shore up Europe’s finances. But he left unclear whether China was willing to drop conditions that so far have made its proposed help unappealing to European nations.
Mr. Wen’s comments came at a Beijing news conference after he met with Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany on the first day of her three-day visit to China.
Mrs. Merkel is the first of several European leaders scheduled to visit China this month, as China’s huge holdings of foreign exchange reserves have begun to give it financial influence that could potentially rival Washington’s.(NY Times)

In a sign of just how unpopular Congress has become, rank-and-file senators hijacked a debate over a narrowly tailored ethics bill and won broad approval Thursday of a more far-reaching reform package that would impose new conflict-of-interest rules and mandate more transparency on K Street.
From conservative backbench Republicans to liberal junior Democrats, senators launched an ethical arms race of amendments by offering changes that were not even considered five years ago when Congress last rewrote its ethics rules. (Washington Post)

Deutsche Bank AG shunned the three- year loans the European Central Bank offered to banks in December on concern taking the funds could damage its reputation with customers, said Chief Executive Officer Josef Ackermann.
“The fact that we have never taken any money from the government has made us from a reputational point of view so attractive to so many clients in the world that we would be very reluctant to give that up,” Ackermann, 63, said on a conference call yesterday.
The ECB awarded 489 billion euros ($643 billion) in 1,134- day loans on Dec. 21 to keep credit flowing to the economy as Europe’s debt crisis made institutions wary of each other and drove up borrowing costs. The ECB said 523 banks asked for the funds, which will be lent at the average of its benchmark interest rate -- currently 1 percent -- over the period of the loans starting the following day. (Bloomberg)

Portugal will follow Greece into debt restructuring unless the European Central Bank steps up purchases of its distressed bonds, said Paul De Grauwe, a professor at the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium.
“The Portuguese problem is a problem of panic and fear and you have to stop it,” De Grauwe said in an interview in Oslo. “The only one who can do it is the ECB.”
Portuguese 10-year yields closed at a euro-era record of 17.393 percent at the start of this week amid concern a Greek debt writedown being negotiated with investors may lead to a similar deal for the government in Lisbon. Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho reassured investors on Jan. 30 that there was no risk of investors being asked to take losses on Portuguese debt.(Bloomberg)

International debt inspectors believe they have found another €15bn (£12.5bn) black hole in Greece’s public finances caused by the deepening recession, delivering the crippled nation another devastating blow.
With pressure growing over talks with private investors about the terms of a €100bn debt write-off, officials calculated that to bring the country’s debts to a sustainable level at 120pc of GDP the international community would need to find an extra €15bn, raising the prospect of a Greek default.
Sources told news organizations in Brussels that weak growth will make it even more difficult for Greece to resolve its debt problem, leaving the eurozone and the International Monetary Fund with the prospect of an even larger bail-out than the €130bn planned. (Telegraph)

Unions and employers' associations in Greece have rejected demands for private-sector wage cuts, despite pressure for the country to introduce strict austerity measures if it is to receive a crucial bailout package.
In a letter to the government Friday, unions and employers said they rejected proposals for the minimum wage to be slashed and annual salaries to be paid to Greek workers in 14 installments.
Wage costs have emerged as a major sticking point in negotiations between the government and rescue creditors from Greece's partners in the eurozone and the International Monetary Fund for a new bailout worth at least euro130 billion ($170 billion).(AP)

The nation’s leading breast cancer advocacy organization confronted the growing furor Thursday over its decision to largely end its decades-long partnership with Planned Parenthood, with rising dissension in its own ranks and a roiling anger on the Internet showing the power of social media to harness protest.
All seven California affiliates of the organization, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation, released a statement saying they opposed its decision. Twenty-six senators urged the foundation to reconsider its decision. And a pledge of $250,000 from Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York helped Planned Parenthood, which provides family planning and abortion services in hundreds of clinics across the country, to more than make up the money it lost.
“Politics have no place in health care,” Mr. Bloomberg said in a statement, an echo of the complaints voiced by many women elsewhere. “Breast cancer screening saves lives, and hundreds of thousands of women rely on Planned Parenthood for access to care.” (NY Times)

Supporters are rallying around Planned Parenthood after renowned breast cancer charity Susan G. Komen for the Cure decided to cut breast screening grants to the reproductive health organization.
Besides $400,000 in smaller donations from 6,000 people, Planned Parenthood is receiving $250,000 from a family foundation in Dallas and a $250,000 pledge announced Thursday by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to match future donations.
In Washington, 26 U.S. senators -- all Democrats except for independent Bernie Sanders of Vermont -- signed a letter calling on Komen to reconsider its decision. (AP)

Misys Plc, the U.K. software maker that failed to reach a deal to be taken over by Fidelity National Information Services Inc. last August, is in talks to merge with Temenos Group AG of Switzerland.
Misys is in “preliminary discussions” with Temenos about a possible all-share merger, the London-based company said today. In a statement, Temenos confirmed the talks and said the company is “evaluating its strategic options.”
Temenos rose as much as 12 percent in Zurich trading. The Swiss company has been eyeing Misys’s financial software business and a merger of the companies, with a combined market value of $3.1 billion before today, would create the largest vendor of banking software, said Milan Radia, a managing director of research at Jefferies International Ltd.

SPX gainers: WHR,MPC,BRCM,TRIP,AIG,MYL,S,CSC,BEN

SPX laggards: AMZN,CHRW,SWN,OKE,CBG,NFX,EW,EXPD

NDQ gainers : STX,MYL,NTAP,FLEX,LRCX,NUAN,ADSK

U.S. stocks advanced, snapping a four-day decline in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, amid signs that manufacturing across the world is strengthening.
The S&P 500 increased 0.9 percent to 1,324.04 at 4 p.m. New York time, according to preliminary closing data, after the index capped its biggest January advance in 15 years.
Equities rallied after data showing manufacturing in the U.S. grew at the fastest pace in seven months. Factory indexes in China improved and a U.K. manufacturing gauge jumped to an eight-month high. In Germany, output grew for the first time since September. Manufacturing contracted less than initially estimated in the euro region. A spokesman said Greece expects to complete talks on a private sector debt swap and a second international financing deal for the country in the next days.
Advancing stocks swamped decliners by better than 13:2 with volume slumping to 826K shares on the NYSE. The Nasdaq posted more than 3 gainers for each decliner with more than 2.11B shares changing hands.

Qualcomm Inc., the biggest maker of mobile-phone chips, forecast fiscal second-quarter sales that would be higher than analysts’ predictions amid growing demand for smartphones.
Sales for the second quarter ending in March will rise to a range of $4.6 billion to $5 billion, the San Diego-based company said today in a statement reporting first-quarter earnings. Analysts were expecting $4.51 billion, the average of estimates in a Bloomberg survey.

Construction spending for December rose 1.5 percent above November, but fell 2 percent in 2011 compared to 2010, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Wednesday.
Spending on private and public projects for November reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $816.4 billion, the monthly construction spending report said.
For the year, spending on private and public construction reached $787.4 billion, a 2 percent drop from 2010, when $803.6 billion was spent on construction projects.
Spending on private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $529.7 billion, 2.1 percent above the revised November estimate of $518.8 billion, the Census Bureau said. (UPI)

Manufacturing in the U.S. grew in January at the fastest pace in seven months, adding to signs of a global pickup from Germany to China.
The Institute for Supply Management’s index climbed to 54.1, from 53.1 in December, the Tempe, Arizona-based group’s report showed today. Figures greater than 50 signal expansion. Other reports showed U.S. construction spending increased at the fastest pace in four months and companies added 170,000 workers to payrolls in January. (Bloomberg)

The parent of American Airlines wants to eliminate about 13,000 jobs -- 15 percent of its workforce -- as the nation's third-biggest airline remakes itself under bankruptcy protection.
The company aims to cut labor costs by 20 percent, and will soon begin negotiations with its three major unions.
AMR Corp. CEO Thomas W. Horton said Wednesday that the company hopes to return to profitability by cutting spending by more than $2 billion per year and raising revenue by $1 billion per year.
AMR lost $884 million in the first nine months of 2011, and on Tuesday it disclosed a $904 million loss for December alone. It has lost more than $11 billion since 2001. (AP)

Chrysler Group LLC, the automaker majority owned by Fiat SpA, said U.S. sales rose 44 percent last month, joining Nissan Motor Co. and General Motors Co. in beating analysts’ estimates for January.
Chrysler surpassed eight analysts’ average estimate for a 32-percent sales gain. Nissan’s 10 percent rise in deliveries topped the 7.6 percent average estimate of six analysts, while Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co. and Ford Motor Co. boosted deliveries from a year earlier. GM’s 6.1 percent sales drop was better than the 7.3 percent decline estimated by eight analysts.
Light-vehicle sales in January may have run at a 13.4 million seasonally adjusted annual rate, the average estimate of 14 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The pace probably accelerated from 12.7 million a year earlier while automakers led by GM spent less on incentives to lure buyers than a year earlier.

European stocks advanced to a six- month high, with the Stoxx Europe 600 Index extending its best start to a year since 1998, as gauges of manufacturing increased from America to the euro area to China.
Banks and carmakers led gains. ICAP Plc jumped 7.7 percent after saying annual pretax profit will be at the “upper end” of the range of analysts’ estimates. RWE AG climbed 4.9 percent after Morgan Stanley added the stock to its best ideas list.
The Stoxx 600 rose 2 percent to 259.51 at the close in London, its highest level since August. The benchmark gauge rallied 4 percent last month, the biggest January gain since 1998, as the U.S. economy maintained its recovery and speculation grew that European policy makers will contain the region’s debt crisis.(Blooomberg)

Portugal doesn’t present the risk of default that Greece does to the rest of the European Union because officials there are seeking to contain the nation’s financial crisis, according to Fitch Ratings.
“The government there is committed and credible. The economy is highly indebted, but they are working on organizing a debt-for-equity swap,” David Riley, head of the sovereign-debt unit at Fitch Ratings, said at a conference in New York today. “That is the right strategy and in the near term we don’t see them as a significant risk to the rest of the euro zone.” (Bloomberg)

Manufacturing activity in the eurozone contracted in January for the fifth consecutive month, research firm Markit Economics said Wednesday.
There was a silver lining in the report. Manufacturing activity declined in the 17-nation currency region, but not as sharply as in December, Markit said.
Markit said the Purchasing Managers Index for the eurozone rose from 46.9 in December to 48.8 in January, using data collected Jan. 12-24. (UPI)

The Mortgage Bankers Association said U.S. mortgage activity fell 2.9 percent in the week ending Friday, although long-term interest rates also fell slightly.
Interest rates for 30-year, fixed-rate conforming mortgages fell from 4.11 percent to 4.09 percent with average points falling from 0.47 to 0.41.
Rates for 15-year, fixed-rate contracts fell from 3.4 percent to 3.36 percent. Points for 15-year loans averaged 0.41 for the week, up from 0.4 in the previous week.(UPI)

Bank of America Corp. lost about three-quarters of its market share in U.S. home mortgages since 2007 as the firm grappled with defective loans, while Wells Fargo & Co.’s presence almost doubled, FBR Capital Markets said.
Bank of America saw its share of originations drop to 5.6 percent in the fourth quarter from 10 percent in 2011’s third quarter and 24.7 percent in 2007 as it exited correspondent lending, Paul Miller of FBR said today in a research note. Miller’s calculations combined the total for Bank of America and subprime lender Countrywide Financial Corp., the biggest mortgage company at the time, which was acquired in 2008. (Bloomberg)

Medicare Advantage plans have 9.4 percent higher enrollment than a year earlier and fees that are 7.2 percent lower, according to a U.S. official who credited the 2010 health-care law for the gains.
In Medicare Advantage, people over age 65 get expanded coverage beyond the standard federal program from private insurers including UnitedHealth Group Inc. and Humana Inc that are subsidized by the government.
The enrollment rise to 12.8 million exceeded Medicare projections in May that membership would peak at 12.5 million in 2012 before falling to about 9.2 million by 2018 as cuts kick in on federal subsidies to insurers. The average premiums dropped to $31.54 per month, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement. (Bloomberg)

Investigators probing the collapse of MF Global Holdings Ltd. have located almost all the client money that went missing when the broker filed for bankruptcy last year, according to a person briefed on the matter.
The investigators have tracked about 90 percent of the missing funds, which were supposed to be kept in segregated accounts for futures customers, to other customer or bank accounts, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is private. The bankruptcy trustee overseeing the liquidation has estimated that as much as $1.2 billion in customers’ funds went missing. (Bloomberg)

Marathon Petroleum Corp., the crude refiner that was spun off from Marathon Oil Corp. in June, will consider an initial public offering for its pipeline assets that may be worth as much as $6.2 billion.
Marathon Petroleum may hold an IPO for its pipeline assets as soon as the second half of 2012 and buy back as much as $2 billion in shares, the company said in a statement today. The announcement came less than two weeks after hedge fund Jana Partners LLC bought a 5.5 percent stake and began talks with the company. (Bloomberg)

Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, Britain’s biggest state-owned lender, agreed to sell its Hoare Govett corporate broking unit to Jefferies Group Inc. as the U.K. lender shrinks after getting a government bailout.
Jefferies will pay a “nominal” amount in cash for the unit, Edinburgh-based RBS said today in a statement. About 50 employees will join Jefferies’s London office, including all of Hoare Govett’s corporate broking team, New York-based Jefferies said in a separate statement.(Bloomberg)

Amazon.com Inc., a backer of LivingSocial, said the daily-deal startup had more than $500 million in losses last year and valued its stake at $208 million, implying the company is worth $671 million.
LivingSocial posted revenue of $245 million in 2011, with $686 million in operating expenses, according to a regulatory filing. Amazon said it owns a 31 percent stake in LivingSocial, the main compe