STOCKS NEWS US-TLT option players bet on big bond rally

Stocks on the move [HOT-RTRS] Real-Time Equity news [U E]

U.S. stock market report [.N]
1557 ET 06April2009-Players scoop up TLT calls, likely betting on bond rally
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shares of the Barclays Capital 20+ Year U.S. Treasury Index (TLT.P) fell 33
cents to $102.59 in late trade as bonds limp into the close. But some option
players seem to be preparing for a big bond rally over the next two weeks, said
Frederic Ruffy, options strategist at WhatsTrading.com. The top trade in the
exchange-traded fund was 5,000 April $107 calls at the offer for 35 cents
traded this morning. ISEE sentiment data on the ISE confirm the trade is an
opening call buy. The activity continued throughout the day and 11,219 TLT
April $107 calls traded, Reuters data show. The TLT tracks bonds with longer
maturities in the Treasury market. Buying calls on the TLT reflects a bullish
view on bonds. When the fund's stock price goes up, interest rates and yields
are falling while government bond prices are rising. Conversely, the ETF's
stock price drops when interest rates and yields rise while bond prices fall.

Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.reuters.com@reuters.net
1458 ET 06April2009-TARP repayments seen hobbling lending, recovery
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Because Congress has now targeted CEO pay, banks are focused on repaying
TARP (bailout money) more than lending, even if they have to access capital to
do so," said Marc Pado, U.S. market strategist AT Cantor Fitzgerald & Co in San
Francisco.

"Now you're going to have the banks focused on repaying TARP and getting
Congress out of their business, rather than spurring the economy.

"They (Congress) have now defeated the very purpose they were injecting the
money for in the first place. It's that this is going to stop the economy from
recovering, but it's going to certainly slow the pace of the recovery."

Reuters Messaging rm://ellis.mnyandu.reuters.com@reuters.net
1458 ET 06April2009-Tech sector Q1 job cuts jump 27 pct vs Q4 -report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Firms in the United States technology sector announced planned job cuts
totaling 84,217 in the first quarter, up 27 percent from 66,312 in the previous
quarter.

It was the largest quarterly job-cut tally for the sector since 2002, when
133,511 layoffs were announced in the fourth quarter, according to a report
released on Monday by global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas,
Inc.

Despite the increase, quarterly tech job cuts remain well below the levels
reached during the dotcom collapse that resulted in 1,163,742 tech-sector job
cuts in 2001 and 2002.

During that period, employers announced an average of 145,467 job cuts each
quarter, the outplacement firm added.

Reuters Messaging rm://ellis.mnyandu.reuters.com@reuters.net
1446 ET 06April2009-Infosys Technologies gets bearish put spreader
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

U.S. listed shares of Indian information technology company Infosys
Technologies Ltd (INFY.BO) (INFY.O) fell 3.13 percent to $28.15 in late trade.
Infosys appeared at the top of Interactive Brokers Group's "hot by options
volume" market scanner after one player initiated a ratio put spread in the
April contract, said Interactiver Brokers' market analyst Andrew Wilkinson in a
note. At the April $25 strike price, 10,000 puts were sold for a premium of 50
cents apiece while 5,000 puts were purchased at the April $27.50 strike for
$1.30 each. The net cost of the bearish trade amounted to 30 cents and yields a
maximum potential profit of $2.20 if shares fall to $25 by expiration. Shares
would need to fall by at least 4 percent from the current price in order to
breach the break even point at $27.20, the price at which the investor begins
to amass profits on the downside, Wilkinson added.

Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.reuters.com@reuters.net
1435 ET 06April2009-Calyon starts banks at underperform
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Calyon Securities analyst Mike Mayo on Monday started coverage on the U.S.
banking sector with an underperform rating, arguing that government action to
stabilize the group may not help as much as expected, and that the sector's
problems still had further to run. Mayo expects the group's loan losses to rise
to 3.5 percent from 2 percent by the end of 2010 because of ongoing problems
with mortgages. "Loan losses, as a percentage of loans, will likely pass the
level of the Great Depression," Mayo wrote. [ID:nN06391861]

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net
1412 ET 06April2009-March same-store sales to fall 0.3 pct: TR data
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Same-store sales are expected to have dropped 0.3 percent in March,
compared with a 0.7 percent drop in March 2008, according to the Thomson
Reuters same-store sales index. Almost all the strength is expected to come
from discount retailer Wal-Mart Stores (WMT.N). Excluding Wal-Mart, the largest
retailer in the index, comparable sales are expected to tumbled 4.7 percent
year-over-year.

The discount retail sector is the only group expected to post positive
sales growth. When Wal-Mart is included, the group is expected to post growth
of 2.6 percent. Excluding Wal-Mart, the sector is expected to report flat
sales.

The S&P Retail Index .RLX fell 1.9 percent to 308.10 on Monday.

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net
1404 ET 06April2009-Markets fall as bank fears resurface
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Major U.S. stock indexes fell on Monday after a warning from a prominent
analyst revived concerns about the health of the banking sector. Tech stocks
were pressured on the potential collapse of a takeover of Sun Microsystems
(JAVA.O). For details, see [ID:nN06365400].

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI fell 1.3 percent to 7,911.11 while
the S&P 500 .SPX lost 1.7 percent to 828.56 and the Nasdaq .IXIC was off
1.8 percent to 1,593.06.

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net
1358 ET 06April2009-NII Holdings down after subscriber growth data
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shares of NII Holdings (NIHD.O) tumbled on Monday, after the company said
it added fewer subscribers than it had expected in the first quarter. It also
cut its 2009 net subscriber growth outlook, citing a drop in demand in Mexico.

For details, see [ID:nBNG441222]

The stock fell 18 percent to $14.42.

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net