STOCKS NEWS US-Ivanhoe Mines call options heat up

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U.S. stock market report [.N] 1159 ET-03March2009 Ivanhoe Mines call options become popular ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shares of Canadian-based Ivanhoe Mines Ltd (IVN.TO) were unchanged at $4.55 near midday. The company said on Tuesday that a draft investment agreement to develop its Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold project has been endorsed in principle by Mongolia's cabinet and the country's National Security Council. In the options market, the equity's April $5 calls traded 11,100 times, or nearly the entire open interest in the past 90 minutes, said optionmonster.com founder Jon Najarian in comments on the website. This is day three of strong, unusual activity in this miner, he said. Ivanhoe's out-of-the-money call open interest has more than doubled in a week to 56,000 contracts, suggesting an aggressive view that shares may see price growth into the spring, said Trade Alert president Henry Schwartz. About 14,000 calls traded vs. only 464 calls in Ivanhoe, four times the normal level for combined volume.

Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.reuters.com@reuters.net 1149 ET 03March2009-Fed and Treasury extend securities loan program ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The U.S. Federal Reserve and Treasury on Tuesday extended a new securities loan program to include equipment and vehicle fleet leases. It also said a future expansion to $1 trillion may also include some of the riskier mortgage and debt securities that are hurting banks.

The Fed and Treasury said the program would start offering loans on March 17, and will accept triple-A rated asset-backed securities as collateral. [ID:nN03468772]

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net 1143 ET 03March2009-Obama has little hope for near-term improvement ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday said he had little hope for near-term improvement in the U.S. economy, following a steep drop in fourth-quarter gross domestic product.

"Frankly, the fist quarter of this year holds out little promise for better returns," Obama said in a speech at the Department of Transportation. [ID:nL3609192]

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net 1132 ET 03March2009-Wall Street falls on Bernanke, economic fears ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Major U.S. indexes fell modestly on Tuesday, after opening in positive territory as financial companies fell on continued uncertainty about efforts to shore up the financial system. Also weighing on the markets was Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who said that economic prospects remained uncertain and urged more action to lift the economy out of the recession. [ID:nN03478101]

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI fell 0.4 percent to 6,738.60 while the S&P 500 .SPX lost 0.7 percent to 695.98 and the Nasdaq .IXIC was off 0.3 percent to 1,319.10.

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net 1122 ET 03March2009-Auto part retailers rise after AutoZone results ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shares of auto parts retailers rose on Tuesday, after AutoZone (AZO.N), the largest auto parts retailer, reported second-quarter earnings that beat expectations, lifted by higher demand for replacement parts as consumers opt to extend the life of existing vehicles rather than purchase new ones. [ID:nBNG148905]

The stock surged 7.4 percent to $150.42. Among its peers, O'Reilly Auto (ORLY.O) rose 1.1 percent to $32.58, Advanced Auto Parts (AAP.N) gained 4 percent to $37.77 and Monro Muffler (MNRO.O) advanced 3 percent to $24.

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net 1108 ET 03March2009-Fed's Lockhart: U.S. banks remain under strain ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The U.S. banking system remains under strain, and it will be several months before there is clarity on capital requirements, said Dennis Lockhart, the Atlanta Federal Reserve president on Tuesday.

"We are certainly not out of the woods in terms of stabilizing the banks and we have some months to go through (to)... identify the capital needs after stress-testing," Lockhart said. [ID:nL3894498]

The KBW Banks index .BKX fell 0.6 percent to 22.47 on Tuesday.

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net 1055 ET 03March2009-Toyota applies for govt loan for financing arm ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Toyota Motor (7203.T) (TM.N) on Tuesday applied for a loan backed by the Japanese government to help its finance arm cut funding costs, a company official said.

The car company is seeking a loan of about $2.1 billion through Toyota Financing Services, its wholly owned car-loan financing arm, accoring to public broadaster NHK TV.

The company is facing an operating loss of $4.6 billion this fiscal year. [ID:nT328363]

U.S.-listed shares of Toyota were up 0.3 percent to $60.90.

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net 1043 ET-03March2009 MGM puts, OTM calls draw traders' interest ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shares of casino company MGM Mirage (MGM.N) sank 14.43 percent to $2.61 after hitting a 52-week low of $2.55 in morning trade. Interest was seen in the March put options, conveying the right to sell MGM shares at $5 a piece where 2,000 contracts were bought at $2.45 a contract. "I would say this trade is a proxy for short stock as MGM is extremely difficult to borrow," said Steve Claussen, chief investment strategist at OptionsHouse LLC. Open interest in MGM deep out-of-the-money June $7.50 calls saw an increase of almost 19,000 contracts after an investor bought 19,000 for 25 cents late on Monday, said Frederic Ruffy, options strategist at WhatsTrading.com. In all, 4,377 puts and 474 calls traded in MGM in morning trade, according to Trade Alert.

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