David Moenning's Daily State of the Markets: 1/07 Jan 7, 2009 09:40AM

Can Hope Spring Eternal?

Stocks once again managed to brush off a batch of pretty crummy economic news yesterday as hope for the future appeared to be the focus – at least for the time being.

With stocks sitting at the very tip top of the recent trading range, both teams are looking for some sort of a trigger to give them the edge in the new game. On the one hand, the bears have a steady stream of surprisingly discouraging economic news to lean on. Yet on the other hand, our heroes in horns have been able to put the “old news” label on just about every piece of data these days and hold their ground.

In the early going, it looked like the recent rally would continue yesterday. However, with trading desks now fully staffed, it wasn’t long before the warm and fuzzy feelings gave way to a ...


Pre-Open Movers 8/28: MBIA (MBI) Up on Reinsurance News; Williams-Sonoma (WSM) Lower After Results/Guidance Aug 28, 2008 09:23AM

StreetInsider.com Pre-Open Movers:

MBIA Inc. (NYSE: MBI) 22% HIGHER; announced that its insurance subsidiary, MBIA Insurance Corporation (MBIA), has agreed to reinsure a portfolio of U.S. public finance bonds insured by Financial Guaranty Insurance Company (FGIC) with total net par outstanding estimated to be approximately $184 billion as of September 30, 2008. MBIA will receive unearned upfront premiums, net of a ceding commission paid to FGIC, of approximately $741 million in connection with the reinsurance.

Origin Agritech Limited (NASDAQ: SEED) 17% HIGHER; reports Q3 EPS of $0.38, versus $0.20 in Q307. Revenues for the quarter were $71.54 million, compared to $59.84 million in the same quarter last year. Sees FY08 sales of $75-$80 million, versus the consensus of $79 million.

FuelCell Energy (Nasdaq: FCEL) 10% LOWER; reports Q2 loss of $0.39, 12 cents worse than the analyst estimate of ($0.27). Revenues for the quarter were $27.9 million, versus the consensus ...