November 28, 2012 Update

DJIA:12,,878 NASDAQ:2,967 10-YR TRS: 6/32, yield 1.644% Oil: $87.18 EURO: $1.2944 YEN:82.16 

Micro

• SPZ:  political unpredictability regarding fiscal cliff driving futures to trade lower.
• Earnings: CGI Group (NYSE: GIB) Q4 EPS of $0.37 missing forecast by $0.05, Jos. A. Bank (NASDAQ: JOSB) Q3 EPS of $0.47 off by $0.09, The Fresh Market (NYSE: TFM) Q3 EPS of $0.23 only off from expectations by $0.03 with better than expected revenue of $321.5 million beating forecast by $3 million. 
• Costco (NASDAQ: COST) saw +6% rise in same-store sales, net sales +9% 5o $8.15B. 
• Virtu Financial is beating Getco in the acquisition of Knight Capital. Virtu’s all cash offer and prelude to IPO is favorable to Getco’s mixture of cash and stock bid with offer to publicly list company.

Macro

• Asian Markets: failure to fix fiscal cliff poorly impacted Tokyo equites which tumbled from seven month highs, as well as Shanghai stocks will fell to four-year lows. 
• European Markets: getting killed from investor concerns regarding fiscal cliff and Greece debt deal.
• October’s new home sales report will be released at 10:00 am. In September new-single family homes soared to its highest rate in nearly two years, which is why analysts expect data to remain flat.
• Steel industry is facing an over capacity problem with the ability to produce 1.8B tons but only demand of 1.5B tons excepted in 2012. Construction of additional mills (many government sponsored) are only making matters worse.
• The Federal Reserve’s Beige Book of regional economic condition is scheduled to disclose at 2:00pm and is forecast to reveal modest growth with a steady labor market. Analysts will be looking for the economic impact of Hurricane Sandy and uncertainty regarding fiscal cliff. 

Yesterday’s Biggest Winners

• Ralcorp Holdings (NYSE: RAH) +26.44% (+$18.57) to $88.80 from the confirmation of the acquisition by ConArga Foods (NYSE: CAG).
• Acadia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ACAD) +136.09% (+$3.13) to $5.43 due to drug’s results that proven to be produce improvements in patients with Parkinson’s disease. 
• Corning Incorporated (NYSE: GLW) +6.87% (+$0.78) to $12.13 boosted from increase demand for glass used in flat-screen TVs.

Yesterday’s Biggest Losers

• McMoRan Exploration (NYSE: MMR) -15.23% (-$1.47) to $8.18 from a downgrade by RBC. 
• Airgas (NYSE: ARG) -2.74% (-$2.48) to $87.99 because of the rumored sale of 12 million shares of common stock. 
• Thor Industries (NYSE: THO) -11.47% (-$5.00) to $38.60 rather poor Q4 earnings. 

Bobst, The Architectural Fallacy

Failing to recognize the impact architecture has on our daily lives is a common misconception in society. Take New York University’s Elmer Holmes Bobst Library as an example. When the library was constructed in 1973, including a giant hole in the middle of the twelve story structure was acceptable as it was believed to have the ability to add an artistic and unique charm to the scholarly edifice and to the entirely of the urban campus. Hollowing the library was expected to enhance student moral, propagate and represent the student body’s artistic abilities, and relax pupils while studying. As you probably already know, none of these forecasts met expectations. Instead, the library’s void has sadly served as a tunnel leading to multiple suicides, leaving the NYU community shattered after each jumper. In addition, periods of high traffic, mainly during midterms and finals, generate serious fire-hazards as hallways become difficult to navigate since students who have failed to find seats are forced to study on hallway floors. Having the enormous twelve-story tall space being occupied by air and dust participles is counterproductive, especially when the opportunity cost is additional book shelves, desks, and chairs. Thirty-nine years later, Bobst’s architecture has only proven to produce massive inefficiencies and yield traumatic results while having the power to transform lives into living nightmares. The power of architecture has been contemplated since the days of Plato, yet many of us neglect to recognize the importance of the trust we place in architects to erect structures that aggrandize the quality of our lives.