STOCKS NEWS US-Call volume pops up in Industrial ETF

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

U.S. stock market report [.N]
1217 ET-10March2009 Industrial ETF call volume swells, shrs up
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Call volume in an exchange-traded fund tracking the industrial sector
swelled to about 110,000 contracts, six times the norm during the first half of
the session, according to Trade Alert. The action comes just days after the
Industrial Select Sector SPDR (XLI.P) attracted significant upside buying that
stretched to the XLI April call options. With XLI shares up 7.1 percent to
$16.45, the fund's April $16, $17 and $18 calls turned extremely busy as each
had volume of more than 30,000 contracts earlier, said Pete Najarian, a founder
of optionmonster.com. The trades appeared to be tied to a combination strategy,
limiting both upside and downside. It was not clear if these positions or
bought or sold, he added. Last Thursday, the bulk of the call buying was
focused on the XLI April $18 calls which drew volume of more than 250,000
contracts for 30 cents, he said.

Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.reuters.com@reuters.net
1154 ET 10March2009-Helen of Troy to join S&P SmallCap 600 index
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Shares of Helen of Troy Ltd (HELE.O) rose on Tuesday after Standard &
Poor's said the company will replace Owens & Minor Inc (OMI.N) in the S&P
SmallCap 600 index after the close of trading on March 16.

Owens & Minor will replace Chemtura Corp CEM.N in the S&P MidCap 400
index on the same date.

Standard & Poor's also said that AZZ Inc (AZZ.N) will replace A.H. Belo
Corp (AHC.N) in the S&P SmallCap 600 after the conclusion of trading on March
16.

Helen of Troy shares jumped more than 23 percent to $10.56, Owens & Minor
rose 2.3 percent to $31.50 and AZZ Inc gained more than 12 percent to $19.02.

Shares of Chemtura dropped 6.3 percent to 15 cents while A.H. Belo slumped
nearly 13 percent to 62 cents.
(Reuters Messaging:rm://Charles.mikolajczak.reuters.com@reuters.net)
1139 ET 10March2009-Stifel Nicolaus upgrades two credit card cos
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Stifel Nicolaus on Tuesday upgraded two companies in the credit card
sector, lifting both Capital One Financial (COF.N) and Discover Financial
(DFS.N) to "buy." The firm said the two may be able to overcome capital and
liquidity concerns.

Speaking about Capital One, Stifel wrote that "although capital remains a
key concern, we believe it is offset by Capital One's access to government
funding as well as today's extreme valuation."

It said Discover's stock was oversold and that the company could manage
through even if industry losses rise above the firm's current estimate.

For details, see [ID:nBNG433378]

Shares of Capital One rose 4.6 percent to $9.13 while Discover shares added
8.5 percent to $5.65.

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net
1116 ET 10March2009-Wholesale inventories fall in January -Commerce Dept
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U.S. wholesale inventories fell in January, dropping for the fifth
consecutive month as the recession continued to weigh on the economy. Sales
also plummeted amid a slump in demand, according to the Commerce Department.

The department's total January wholesale inventories dropped 0.7 percent in
the company, depressed by record drops in autos and furniture.

For details, see [ID:nN10513865]

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net
1107 ET 10March2009-Morgan Stanley downgrades defense sector
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Morgan Stanley on Tuesday downgraded the U.S. defense sector to cautious
from in-line. The firm has a negative outlook on the group and said it could
underperform relative to the S&P 500 .SPX "possibly for the next few
quarters."

Despite that, Morgan Stanley said it would still own top pick Lockheed
Martin (LMT.N), which it said was one of the few companies in the S&P that was
likely to add to its 2009-2010 earnings.

For details, see [ID:nWNAB2300]

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net
1100 ET 10March2009-More gains ahead? Historicals say so -- Birinyi
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The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was up more than 3 percent as of 10
a.m. (1400 GMT) on Tuesday, the eighth such occurrence since 1990, according to
market research firm Birinyi Associates.

"On average the market is up an additional 2.57 percent, 71 percent of the
time and up 6.11 percent on average for the entire day," the firm said in a
research note.

Reuters Messaging: ellis.mnyandu.reuters.com@reuters.net