Morgan Stanley

What Does It Mean?

For those of you that like a little movement in your daily dose of stock market action, you were not disappointed yesterday and you most certainly won’t be today. Yesterday stocks bounded back and forth and back and forth all day long, moving 100 points every five minutes or so with seemingly little effort – or better yet, with even less reason. In case you missed it, the Dow swung in a 550 point range on Thursday with at least 11 different swings of 150 points over ten to fifteen minute spans. So yes, Virginia, volatility definitely remains a little elevated. But the question is what does it mean?

One of the things we’ve talked about extensively in our Crash Playbook is that volatility tends to stick around for a while, even after a panic low has been seen. And so, while it may not be ...

An End To The Misery?

Here’s a link to listen to an Audio Version of the report

As we’ve been reporting, the bulls received a shot in the arm this weekend when Hank Paulson announced that the government was stepping in to take the reins of Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE). Stocks initially celebrated wildly around the globe as the takeovers removed a great deal of uncertainty from the market. But, in the U.S., some traders were not sure the move changed much of anything in the big picture and stocks struggled a bit midday before rallying into the close.

Although there are plenty of people up in arms over the government’s move because it doesn’t exactly fit in with our free market society, the bull camp argues that the takeover is a net positive as it should help mortgage rates to finally come down a bit. The bottom ...

An End To The Misery?

Here’s a link to listen to an Audio Version of the report: 

As we’ve been reporting, the bulls received a shot in the arm this weekend when Hank Paulson announced that the government was stepping in to take the reins of Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE). Stocks initially celebrated wildly around the globe as the takeovers removed a great deal of uncertainty from the market. But, in the U.S., some traders were not sure the move changed much of anything in the big picture and stocks struggled a bit midday before rallying into the close.

Although there are plenty of people up in arms over the government’s move because it doesn’t exactly fit in with our free market society, the bull camp argues that the takeover is a net positive as it should help mortgage rates to finally come down a bit. The ...

Morgan Stanley upgrades UST Inc (NYSE: UST) from Underweight ...

StreetInsider.com Pre-Open Movers:

SankDisk (Nasdaq: SNDK) 26% HIGHER; issued a statement in response to rumors, Samsung Electronics is looking to acquire the company. The company said, "SanDisk periodically has conversations with multiple parties, including Samsung."

UST (NYSE: UST) 23% HIGHER; Altria Group (NYSE: MO) in in advanced talks to buy UST, people with close knowledge of the negotiations said. Terms of a deal could not be learned.

Hoku Scientific, Inc. (NASDAQ: HOKU) 15% HIGHER; Hoku and Solargiga Sign Contract Worth Up to $455 Million

Shiloh Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ: SHLO) 15% HIGHER; reports Q3 EPS of $0.18, versus the analyst estimate of $0.06. Revenues for the quarter were $124.2 million, compared to $115.8 million in the same quarter last year.

Quiksilver (NYSE ...