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MARKET CURRENTS

  • 9:48 AM Bill Ackman's Pershing Square reduced its positions in Kraft (KFT +0.1%) and Family Dollar (FDO +0.9%), according to a SEC filing. The hedge fund trimmed its position in Kraft to 15.5M shares from 21.2M at the end of the last quarter, while FDO was slashed to 2.6M shares from 8.4M shares. Comment! [Consumer]
  • 9:47 AM Apple (AAPL) has ordered iPhone displays that measure at least 4", the WSJ reports, with production set to begin next month. With most rival high-end devices now sporting 4"+ displays, rumors (I, II, III) have abounded that the next iPhone will sport a larger screen size, but this is the most concrete one yet. Samsung's (SSNLF.PK) recently-announced Galaxy S III will feature a 4.8" display. 1 Comment [Tech]
  • 9:44 AM Oil explorer Range Resources (RRC +0.2%) says the report on its North Chapman Ranch field in Texas confirms a significant increase to its proved reserves by as much as 50%, while in Trinidad, progress continues to gain pace in the development program of the shallow Lower Forest Horizons within the Morne Diablo field. Comment! [Energy]
  • 9:44 AM European shares are giving up their meek rally attempt as ECB President Draghi takes the occasion of a gathering panic to speak about the bank's focus on price stability as keeping inflation expectations down. On Greece, he says the EU treaty sees no possibility of an exit from EMU. "Dude, a lot of stuff is not in the treaty," snipes Dow Jones' Katie Martin. Comment! [Global & FX, Breaking News]
  • 9:41 AM Germany and France benefit from safe-haven status in bond sales, with Germany selling €4.11B ($5.2B) of 10-year bonds at an average yield of 1.47%, down from 1.77% and the lowest on record. France auctions €7B-€8B four bonds maturing from 2014-2017, also with lower yields. It seems that M. Hollande isn't so scary after all. Comment! [Global & FX]
  • 9:38 AM The U.S. economy could shrink as much as four percentage points in H1 2013 if Congress fails to address the expiration of $600B worth of tax breaks and jobless benefits by the end of this year, Goldman Sachs says. The chances of a worst-case "fiscal cliff" scenario are 35%, the firm says; more likely is Congress temporarily raising the debt limit and postponing tough decisions until 2013. 1 Comment [U.S. Economy]
  • 9:38 AM Sina (SINA +13.4%), which had fallen sharply since March, is surging following its Q1 beat, even though it was accompanied by soft Q2 revenue guidance and a warning it could see additional losses due to its investments in Weibo, which are expected to grow to $160M in 2012 from $110M-$120M last year. An upgrade from Barclays is helping Sina's cause. BofA (Neutral), though worried about margin pressure, is pleased with Sina's efforts to monetize Weibo. Comment! [Tech, On the Move]
  • 9:33 AM Patrick Chovanec details the "unraveling" of Chinese real estate: April housing starts -14.4% Y/Y, Office starts -21%, Retail starts -18.7%, Land sales -54.7%. Foreign funding of property development -80.8% Y/Y. The only thing holding up real estate investment is a flurry of completions by desperate developers. Once this ends, the hit to GDP may be enough to push the economy into a hard landing. Comment! [Global & FX]
  • 9:31 AM At the open: Dow +0.26% to 12665. S&P +0.36% to 1335. Nasdaq +0.35% to 2904.
    Treasurys: 30-year -0.35%. 10-yr -0.22%. 5-yr -0.11%.
    Commodities: Crude -1.14% to $92.91. Gold -1.09% to $1540.05.
    Currencies: Euro +0.07% vs. dollar. Yen +0.31%. Pound +0.3%. Comment!
  • 9:25 AM Cleantech Solutions (CLNT) -25.2% premarket after Q1 revenues declined 46.4% Y/Y to $9.4M, including a 58% Y/Y drop in revenue from the sale of forged rolled rings to the wind power industry to $5.6M. Comment! [Tech, Energy, Earnings, On the Move]
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ANALYSIS FOR WEDNESDAY, MAY 16, 9:50AM ET

DIA 0.59%
SPY 0.63%
QQQ 0.35%
GLD 0.11%

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