December 7, 2012 Update

DJIA:13,074 NASDAQ:2,989 10-YR TRS: 3/32, yield 1.581% Oil:$86.26 EURO:$1.2968 YEN:82.39 

Micro

• SPZ:  flat as investors await nonfarm payrolls data and news on the progression of avoiding the fiscal cliff. 
• Dividends: Ventas (NYSE: VTR) declared $0.62 per share (quarterly) payable on Dec. 28.
• California State is suing Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) accusing the airline of not informing their customers the sensitive information the carrier was collecting on them from use of their mobile app- which will test the Online Privacy Protection Act for the first time!
• Gold futures trading at $1,698.30,  a $3.50 dip. 
• McDonalds (NYSE: MCD) has a plan to merge all 148 restaurants in India with its publicly-listed parent, as it plans to continue same-store growth across India. 
• The FBI has joined the SEC (a scary pairing) in investigating retiring Big Lots (NYSE:BIG) CEO, Steven Fishman, for acting on inside information when he sold $10M of stock in March before announcement of decaying Q1 sales.   
• YUM (NYSE: YUM) reports being “very confident” in their Chinese division, regardless of the country’s economic slowdown. 

Macro

• Asian Markets: trading higher ahead, especially in Japan where banks were driving gains. 
• European Markets: trading in a tight range after production data, Germany’s DAX 30 index posted the strongest closing level in half a decade. 
• Earthquake with a magnitude 7.3 hits off the northeast coast of Japan at 5:18pm their time, resulting in a tsunami of 1M in height hitting Miyagi, no reported causalities.   
• US job growth is forecast to have slowed in November to 80,000 which would leave the unemployment rate unchanged at 7.9% - data will be available at 8:30am.
• December’s consumer-sentiment measure by U. of Michigan and Thomson Reuters is expected to read 82.0 from 82.7 - releasing at 9:55am. 

Yesterday’s Notable Winners

• Akami Technologies (NASDAQ: AKAM) +10.03% (+$3.56) to $39.06 from the deal with AT&T to co-sell services. 
• Walter Energy (NYSE: WLT) +5.34% (+$1.69) to $33.35 from rumor that BHP Billiton is considering a cash bid for the company. 
• Zynga (NASDAQ: ZNGA) +7.11% (+$0.17) to $2.49 after ZNGA filed paperwork to offer real money gambling games in Nevada. 

Yesterday’s Notable Losers 

• Mens Warehouse (NYSE: MW) -2.68% (-$0.84) to $30.51 from decline in November same-stores sales in the US and Canada.
• Align Technology (NASDAQ: ALGN) -1.91% (-$0.5) to $25.64 after company gave a gloomy outlook and announced they will cut jobs and change management. 
• VeraBradley (NASDAQ: VRA) -11.71% (-$3.07) to $23.14 following the company forecasting a bas Q4 and cut annual revenue expectations. 

Europe’s Sovereign Ebola Crisis

It starts with a headache. The pain then attacks the temples and travels down the victim’s back. As time elapses, victims transform into angrier, more sullen and resentful versions of their original selves; developing a difficulty of keeping things inside. Many suffer from shock. The source of such distress is highly contagious, spreading from human to human and effecting anyone exposed. There is no solution. Determining whether these symptoms describe one suffering from the Ebola Virus or Europe’s sovereign debt dilemma is impossible, as the symptoms listed can apply to either situation. Ebola, a virus stemming from the fruit bat, has the potential to wipe out 90% of infected patients, leaving exposed areas inhabitable for centuries; making it the scariest of all viruses. In comparison, Greece’s debt has proven to be contagious (example of the credit multiplier effect), spreading rapidly across the EU (and potentially the world) and making causalities of overexposed balance sheets. With everything so highly correlated and globalized, both horrendous situations could easily devastate the entire United States- rattling financial markets, destroying American land, and, at an extreme, wiping out the whole population. A means of curing Ebola or alleviating Europe’s debt is not a reality as of now, but both should be solved soon as they have the ability to leave everyone bleeding...