December 5, 2012 Update

DJIA:12,951 NASDAQ:2,996 10-YR TRS: 5/32, yield 1.61% Oil: $88.50 EURO: $1.3905 YEN:81.9 

Micro

• SPZ: trading up from optimism regarding global markets and US data, driven by rally in Chinese stocks. Investors wait for ADP employment and productivity data release.
• Earnings: Toro (NYSE:TTC) Q4 EPS forecast to “break even,” Men’s Warehouse (NYSE: MW) Q3 EPS forecast at $0.97 per share, Finisar (NASDAQ: FNSR) expects Q2 EPS of $0.14 per share, Saic (NYSE: SAI) forecast Q3 EPS of $0.34 a share. 
• February’s Gold deliveries down $25.30 (1.5%), breaking the $1,700 benchmark!
• January contracts for Crude Oil rose $0.26, up 16% Y/Y in September- highest in 15 years!. 
• Senate approved a bill authorizing $631.4B for defense spending, if Obama signs off Boeing (NYSE: BA), GD (NYSE: GD), and Huntington Ingalls (NYSE: HII) will pocket major profits.
• Ford (NYSE:F) and GM (NYSE: GM) are seeing their massive inventories sit and rot as Japanese rivals recover from last year’s earthquake. 

Macro

• Asian Markets: trading up from Chinese optimism about new leader, Shanghai equities ripping while Nokia rallies.  
• European Markets: also trading higher, from the contagious uplifting Chinese rally. 
• Shanghai Composite Index gained 3% as a result from a meeting of new leaders, rumor is that leaders will uphold economic policies (something that has not been done in the past). 
• ADP employment data is expected to be released at 8:15am, expected to be distorted by Hurricane Sandy, November forecast of 118,000 is down from 158,000 in October.
• Q3 productivity data will be released at 8:30am, and is expected to rise to 2.8%, from 1.9%.  
• Institute for Supply Management’s November non-manufacturing index is forecast to to slow to 53%, down from 54.2% in October. 
• October’s factory orders date due at 10:00am, forecast to drop 0.1% from September’s 4.8% surge.
• Chinese equities may stop trading on U.S. exchanges as relations between the two nations become sour thanks to failed diplomacy. 

Yesterday’s Biggest Winners

• Big Lots (NYSE: BIG) +11.52% (+$3.23) to $31.27 thanks to announcement regarding the departure of CEO and a bullish full year earnings estimate. 
• Health Net (NYSE: HNT) +3.44% (+$0.82) to $24.67 from an upgrade by Wells Fargo based on belief that majority of challenges have been addressed. 
• Galena Biopharma (NASDAQ: GALE) +9.8% (+$0.2) to $2.24 after Teva (NYSE: TEVA) confirms it will purchase GALE’s Breast Cancer unit in Israel. 

Yesterday’s Biggest Losers 

• Darden Restaurants (NYSE: DRI) -9.58% (-$5.02) to $47.4 after the chain cut yearly guidance and announced that promotions failed.  
• Pep Boys-Manny, Moe & Jack (NYSE: PBY) -10.39% (-$1.11) to $9.57 after company suffered severe losses from combination of declining sales and dishing out for one-time charges. 
• Vail Resorts (NYSE: MNT) -7.9% (-$4.41) to $51.43 from  Q1 revenue loss. 

Attention Deficit Disorder: The Valuable Acquired Characteristic

According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, in 2010 five million American children (8%) were diagnosed with ADD. Of those effected, children raised in single-parent or impoverished households were in fact twice as likely to be effected than children raised by more stable families. In the 1960's when the condition was first gathering attention, the inability to focus was believed to have been derived from an inborn genetic disorder resulting in abnormal brain function. Fifty years later however, psychiatric studies have proven this theory invalid and argue that ADD is obtained from the influence and impact past experiences have on a person; explaining why children from less secure homes are more likely to develop the condition. While some children out grow the “disorder,” 80% carry it with them to adulthood (Acta Psychiatr Scand), which actually increase chances of success in professions where multi-tasking is vital (ex: trading). Addictive stimulants, like Adderall and Ritalin, are prescribed to many diagnosed cases but have only been proved to temporarily enhance attention spans (NY Times); explaining why the drug is more useful to college students cramming for finals than to those suffering from chronic ADD. The ability to complete multiple tasks at once is a productive acquired characteristic, yet society has labeled the condition as a disorder- implying a negative connotation. Since ADD targets those who have experienced traumatic upbringings, I argue that is it more logical to market the condition as advantageous for the reason that these individuals have a higher probability of becoming future troubled adults or delinquents. Encouraging society to use the behavioral anomaly to their advantage could result to increase productivity, decreased stimulate intake, and fewer criminal records.