STOCKS NEWS US-Case of fatigue? Financials lagging 200-day MAs

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1503 ET 09Jun2009-Case of fatigue? Financials lagging 200-day MAs
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What's wrong with this picture? Both the KBW Bank index .BKX and the S&P
financial index .GSPF have yet to close above their 200-day moving averages
(MAs) this year, even with all the optimism about bailouts and results of
recent stress tests.

Contrast that with the fact that a Monday's close the benchmark S&P 500
.SPX registered its sixth straight daily close above this crucial technical
measure of the market's strength.

According to Marc Pado, U.S. market strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald & Co
in San Francisco, the lag in both the KBW and the S&P financial index
underscores the damage the credit crisis wrought on the financial sector.

"The 200-day MA is a longer-term perspective. As much as the financials
have come off their lows, 100/300 percent, they were down 78/90 percent. So
it's a long way back, and I think that's why in the short-term you look at the
financials as maybe a leader," he said. "You need them to be improving in order
for the markets to do well."

Reuters Messaging: ellis.mnyandu.reuters.com@reuters.net
1442 ET 09June2009-Popular falls on proposed share exchange offering
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Shares of Popular Inc (BPOP.O) fell on Tuesday, a day after it detailed a
plan to boost its Tier I common equity by about $1.2 billion through an
exchange offer. It also said it would suspend dividends on its common and
preferred stock after June 30.

The company plans to offer up to 390 million common shares in exchange for
preferred shares, prompting rating agency Fitch to cut its issuer default
rating on the company.

For details, see [ID:nBNG497340]

Shares fell 8.6 percent to $2.33.

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net
1431 ET 09June2009-Bankruptcy filings rise in Q1: government data
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U.S. bankruptcy filings rose in the first quarter, advancing to the highest
since 2005, according to government data.

There were 330,477 filings in the January-to-March period, up 10 percent
from the previous quarter and up 35 percent from a year earlier, the
Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts said this week. Consumer bankruptcy
filings rose 33 percent from a year earlier, while business filings rose 64
percent.

"There is a direct correlation with troublesome conditions in the economy:
a lack of credit, margins being squeezed, and an inability to refinance," said
Leonard Goldberger, a partner at the law firm Stevens & Lee PC in Philadelphia
and former vice president of the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI). "And
bankruptcy is historically a lagging indicator of the economy: today's
survivors can be tomorrow's victims."

For details, see [ID:nN09369931]

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net
1354 ET 09June2009-Trimble shares rise after Wedbush upgrade
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Shares of Trimble Navigation (TRMB.O) rallied on Tuesday, after Wedbush
Morgan upgraded the stock to hold from sell, citing stabilization in the
company's end markets.

"The wheels are no longer coming off Trimble, though the market environment
remains challenging," the firm wrote to clients.

For details, see [ID:nBNG384768]

Shares of the navigation systems company rose 6.7 percent to $22.54.

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net
1329 ET 09June2009 Lear out-of-the-money call options pop up
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Auto-parts maker Lear Corp (LEA.N) is drawing very unusual options volume.
Its option volatility is also elevated as shares rose 32 cents to $1.54 in
afternoon trade. In the stock's options, a total of about 35,000 contracts
traded, 11 times the normal combined daily volume dominated by 36,000 call
options, according to Trade Alert. Much of the activity is heavily concentrated
in the July $2.50 call strike. The 28,000 contracts traded earlier in that
strike includes an investor purchase of 17,700 contracts for an average premium
of 22.5 cents per contract, which looks like a new position, said
WhatsTrading.com option strategist Frederic Ruffy. The volume exceeded the
strike open interest of by a factor of 9 times. There is no news on the stock.
The stock's option implied volatility stood at 284 percent, up from 245 percent
the previous session, he added.

Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.reuters.com@reuters.net