Insiders' Blog

Shares of Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) are seeing some interest this morning as Vice Chairman Ned Kelly, BofA/ML banking conference. Shares are up 1%. Below are some highlights:

• on road to stabilization recovery
  
• dramatically increased capital, liquidity
  
• Citicorp is future of Citi
  
• Continue to cut assets in special asset pool
  
• Balance sheet is very liquid
  
• Deposit are continuing to grow
  
• Liquidity gives Citi time to reduce Citiholding assets.
  
• Odds of keeping CitiFinancial are very low.

Shares of Callaway Golf (NYSE: ELY) are indicated higher in the pre-market session following a bullish research note from an analyst at Wedbush this morning. Closing at $7.07 yesterday, the bid is currently at $7.16, while the ask is at $7.98.

Reiterating an Outperform rating and $10 price target, Wedbush added shares of Callaway to its "Best Ideas List". Citing "new product launches, an end to retailer inventory destocking, and positive fluctuations in foreign currency", the firm sees a meaningful rebound in fundamentals next year. Wedbush also noted recent positive early feeback from channel checks, suggesting that the company could be poised to gain market share in 2010. The firm said retailers have indicated that potential hit products could include: two new top-of-the-line drives, FT-iZ and FT Tour; two new premium ball models, the Tour i(s) and i(z) balls; and new premium putters.

Callaway Golf Company, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and sells golf clubs and golf balls in the United States and internationally.

As has been the trend, Gold is higher again today to new all-time highs. Spot Gold last traded at $1114.10, above yesterday's close of $1105.80. Gold ETF SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD) is up 0.81 percent to $109.27 in pre-open trading.

The move higher in Gold is largely related to the weakness in the dollar. The dollar is lower against many major currencies again today.

The rise in gold and weakness in the dollar comes despite comments from Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner that a strong dollar is "very important" for the U.S. economy.

American International Group, Inc. (NYSE: AIG) is higher today after comments from Moody's late yesterday which suggested that if markets continue to stabilize the company may be able to fully repay the government's senior secured loan and much or all of its preferred equity stake.

As would be expected, speculators have viewed this news as extremely positive. The thinking here is that if AIG can get out from under the government's thumb then the common shares could have some value. Until this report, speculation that the common would have value was based on just one thing - HOPE. Now that the hope is in writing, which gives it some credence. Something for longs to hold onto, nurture and cherish.

But analysts at Credit Suisse are saying not so fast. They claim the Moody's news is likely positive for AIG bondholders but that its not clear whether it is positive for the common equity. The firm claims that if AIG does have the wherewithal to payback the government, then there won't be much of an incentive for the government to restructure its deal with the company. Credit Suisse also highlighted Moody's caveat that the ratings could be lowered if they perceive a decline in realizable values.

Shares of AIG are up 4.45 percent to 37.72, but off the day's high of $39.35.

Real-Time Market Moving News Two-Weeks FREE http://www.streetinsider.com/premium_content.php

The gaming industry, specifically publisher Activision Blizzard Inc. (Nasdag: ATVI), got a boost today with the release of the highly-anticipated game "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" to millions of eager fans.

The sequel to the 2007 Game of the Year hit is expected to be one of the biggest and fastest selling games of all time, set to rival the records set by the "Grand Theft Auto" series. The original game has sold over 13 million copies since its release.

The new first-person-shooter game could not come at a better time, as the video game industry has been hit hard by tough economic times, with sales of video games down in the U.S by 13 percent this year according to a report from Reuters.

The game is not expected to have the impact internationally that the GTA series did due to the first-person-shooter genre being popular in fewer regions. However the United States and the United Kingdom are expected to welcome the game with open arms.

"By all indicators, we anticipate Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 will be the biggest entertainment launch of all time. As of today, the number of pre-order reservations we've taken for the game is the highest for any title we've ever sold in our 6,200 store network," said Tony Bartel, Executive VP of merchandising and marketing with GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME).

Activision Blizzard, who also publishes the popular Guitar Hero and World of Warcraft series, teamed up with more than 10,000 GameStop and Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) stores for a midnight release of the game.

The game comes out ahead of other industry charging titles next week, including Ubisoft's "Assassin's Creed II," and Valve's "Left 4 Dead 2."

All three of these potential holiday hits have been rated Mature for violence and blood. Also Nintendo's Wii will not support any of the titles, surely helping to push sales of Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) Xbox and Sony's (NYSE: SNE) PlayStation 3.

The release of Activision's new sure-thing comes the day after Electronic Arts (Nasdaq: ERTS) reported losses for its second quarter. EA plans to continue to restructure its business, including cutting 1,500 jobs by the end of March 2010. Shares of EA have decline 6.8 percent following the news.

Activision Blizzard has not seen an immediate positive impact from the big release as its shares are down 0.50 percent to $11.49 in midday market trading. Sony is down 1.36 percent to $29.09. Microsoft is slightly down 0.21 percent to $28.93.