Week Mar 16 2012 – Weekly Recap & The Week Ahead
“It ‘s a buy when the 10-week MA crosses the 30-week MA and the slope of both averages is up” — Victor Sperandeo
1. U.S. to file rare earths complaint — the U.S. filed a complaint with the WTO over China’s quota for rare earth exports.
2. Chip Maker Intel (INTC) Working on a Web-Based Video Service to Compete With Cable, Satellite Providers — Intel (INTC) is developing an Internet-based TV service to sell to consumers, and has been talking with media companies about creating a “virtual cable operator” that would offer channels in a bundle. The TV service would rely on Intel-built set-top boxes that feature the company’s own processors.
3. Pfizer likely to spin off animal-health unit — Pfizer (PFE) said that it’s more likely it will spin off its animal-health unit than sell it to one of the many companies rumored to be in the hunt to buy it.
4. Banks Stress-Tests — The Federal Reserve released the results of its stress tests, showing that “despite large hypothetical declines, the post-stress test capital level … of 15 of the 19 bank holding companies were estimated … above all 4 of the regulatory minimum levels … even after considering the proposed capital actions, such as dividend increases or share buybacks.” Citigroup (C), SunTrust (STI), MetLife (MET) and Ally Financial failed to get their capital plans approved in the Fed’s stress tests
5. Chinese Economy Already in ‘Hard Landing,’ — Bloomberg reported China’s economy is already in a so- called “hard landing,” according to Adrian Mowat, JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s chief Asian and emerging-market strategist. “China is in a hard landing. Car sales are down, cement production is down, steel production is down, construction stocks are down. It’s not a debate anymore, it’s a fact.”
6. Iranian banks to be cut off from global payments system — the international community has ratcheted up the pressure on Iran by several more notches, with the EU ordering Swift, the Belgian organization that handles over $6T worth of international payments a day, to cut off Iranian banks blacklisted by the EU from its messaging system.
7. 10-Year Treasury Yield Breaks Above 200 DMA & VIX falls below 15 — below are the charts of the US 10-Year T-Bill and VIX courtesy from the Bespoke Investment Group.
The week ahead — Economic data from Econoday.com: