Source: Investment News Briefs Friday, July 10, 2009

• Crude oil yesterday (Wednesday) rose above $62 a barrel, a six-month high, after the U.S. government released a report that showed inventories fell below forecasts. “The big drops in both crude and gasoline are very bullish,” Nauman Barakat, senior vice president of energy at Macquarie Futures USA Inc., told Bloomberg. “If people were surprised by how fast crude oil moved from $50 to $60, they will be really shocked by how quickly the market will hit $70.”

• The courtship of General Motors Corp.’s (NYSE: GM) Opel unit is down to three potential suitors – Italy’s Fiat SpA (OTC ADR: FIATY), Canadian-Austrian car parts group Magna International Inc. (NYSE: MGA) and investment firm RHJ International, Reuters reported. GM has a June 1 deadline to restructure and raise capital if it wants to avoid a forced bankruptcy.

• Brazil is on the mend from its biggest economic drought and may grow as much as 4% in the second half of the year, Itau Unibanco Banco Multiplo SA’s (NYSE ADR: ITU) Chief Executive Officer Roberto Setubal said at a conference in New York. “Our economy is showing very strong signs of recovery,” Setubal said, Bloomberg reported.  “The pace of growth is already there, and I believe we will see a very strong second semester in Brazil.”

• Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) and BJ’s Wholesale Club, Inc. (NYSE: BJ) reported better-than-expected earnings for the first quarter. Target did so by reining in expenses and inventory. BJ’s – which raised its first-quarter forecast earlier this year – cited higher-than-expected merchandise sales and margins, Reuters reported.

• President Barack Obama is expected to quickly sign a bill imposing sweeping new limits on the credit card industry passed by Congress yesterday (Wednesday), Reuters reported.  The House of Representatives voted 361-64 to approve the bill as adopted on Tuesday by the Senate, in a major win for the president and congressional Democrats.  The so-called “Consumer’s Bill of Rights” would strictly limit credit card issuers’ ability to raise interest rates on cardholders’ existing balances and to charge certain fees.

• California voters yesterday (Wednesday) struck down five measures backed by Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Democrat- led legislature that were intended to shore up the state’s finances. With the governor expecting California to have $21 billion less than it needs over the next 13 months, the most-populous U.S. state is on the verge of running out of cash for the second time this year after the ballot measure defeat added $6 billion to the budget deficit, Bloomberg reported.

• Wall Street securities brokers are not expected to rehire many of the workers let go during the global financial meltdown, a New York City fiscal monitor said in a gloomy report released yesterday (Wednesday). The Wall Street firms will replace only a small number of the lost jobs by 2013 even if the industry returns to profitability next year, the city’s Independent Budget Office said in the report, according to Reuters.

• A group of Indiana pension funds filed court papers late yesterday (Wednesday) objecting to a plan to auction Chrysler LLC’s assets and said a U.S. District Court judge should rule on the legality of the sale, Bloomberg reported.  The pension funds, which hold first lien debt of the automaker, asked U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Arthur Gonzalez in New York to block the sale, claiming the plan is illegal and infringes their rights.  The funds are also asked for appointment of a trustee to run Chrysler.

Source: Investment News Briefs  Thursday, May 21, 2009

Sales at U.S. retailers dropped 0.4%, the eighth monthly decline in the last 10 months, following a revised 1.3% drop in March that was larger than previously estimated.  Excluding auto dealers, sales fell 0.5%

Economists had expected an increase of 0.5% to 1.0%.  Since July, retail sales have shown increases only in January and February, and those were attributed to post-holiday sales.

The disappointing numbers indicate surging unemployment and the worst housing market in decades could temper consumers’ appetite for spending for years, analysts said. As long as consumer spending is muted, which accounts for about 70% of all economic activity, any recovery from the worst recession in over 50 years is likely to be slow and difficult.

“These numbers are certainly discouraging, a bit disheartening,” David Resler, chief economist at Nomura Securities (ADR NYSE: NMR) in New York, told Reuters.

The news sent U.S. stock index futures reeling to steep losses in New York trading, while government bond prices enjoyed their biggest gains in weeks.
There can be little doubt that soaring unemployment is curtailing consumer spending. Unemployed workers naturally cut back on purchases and recent statistics suggest those that are still working are increasing their savings rate.

Despite the fact that payrolls fell by only 539,000 workers in April, the smallest drop since October, the jobless rate climbed to 8.9%, the highest level since 1983. Economists surveyed this month by Bloomberg predicted the jobless rate would average 9.6% in 2010.

The same survey also showed consumer spending will be unchanged this quarter after rising 2.2% during the first three months of the year. Last month, economists had forecast spending would fall at a 0.5% annual pace in the second quarter.

“The second quarter is going to be tough,” Bill Cheney, chief economist at John Hancock Financial Services Inc. in Boston, said in a Bloomberg Television interview. “Consumers are losing their jobs, concerned about losing their jobs and losing wealth.”

Retail sales fell even as consumer confidence started to rebound. According to last month’s report by the Conference Board, a New York-based private research group, consumer sentiment jumped in April by the most since 2005.

Falling demand at electronics, furniture, clothing and grocery stores led the decline in sales.

Gas stations also reported falling receipts in April, even though fuel prices climbed, indicating Americans may be cutting back on driving just as the U.S. enters the usually busy summer months.

Imported petroleum prices were up 15.4% in April – the largest monthly rise since a 17% increase in March 2002 – after February and March figures were revised upwards to 5.3% and 7.9% respectively.

Sales at car dealers were among the few retailers to show an increase last month. Auto sales gained 0.2% after falling 2% in March.

Counter to an industry report last week, the government’s data said sales at clothing retailers decreased 0.5%.

According to last week’s report from the International Council of Shopping Centers, the New York-based trade group that measures sales at about 40 retail chains, April same-store sales rose 0.7%, the first gain since September.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT), the world’s largest retailer, said sales at U.S. stores open at least a year rose 5%. Other retailers that said first-quarter earnings exceeded their forecasts included Kohl’s Corp. (NYSE: KSS) and BJ’s Wholesale Club Inc. (NYSE: BJ).

Those reports had raised hopes that shoppers are returning to stores. But yesterday’s report had retailers preaching patience.

“We’re still working our way through the slowdown,” Mike Niemira, chief economist at the ICSC, told Bloomberg. “I think it will get better as the year progresses. The month of May will still be tough and I suspect by the summer that things will be a little broader in terms of the improvement.”

Source:  Plummeting Retail Sales in April Bury Economic “Green Shoots”

This from Smart Profits Report

A Healthcare Haven

It stands to reason that the sectors and companies that traditionally fare better during economic recessions are those that garner essential repeat business.

As my colleague Marc Lichtenfeld has pointed out many times here before, that includes the healthcare and biotech sectors. And far from procrastinating, Marc just issued his “Five Predictions For The Healthcare Sector In 2009″ for Xcelerated Profits Report subscribers in the January issue. If you’re not a subscriber, you should be! You can get more information on that here.

No matter what happens with the broader economy, people will still get sick and will still need drugs and medicines. With a growing population and people living longer, the long-term prospects for healthcare remain excellent.

But in a poor economic and investing climate, your best bet is to stick with the powerhouse pharmaceutical companies like Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) and Proctor & Gamble (NYSE:PG), which are masters of the “razor-and-blade model” (basically, once a consumer buys a razor from the company, he/she needs to keep buying blades for it, thus generating repeat business). In the biotech world, look at big boys like Genentech (NYSE:DNA) and Gilead Sciences (Nasdaq:GILD).

Food, Glorious Food (And A Bunch Of Other Stuff, Too)

If people regularly require medicines and drugs, they need everyday essentials like food and drink even more. And while the retail sector is struggling overall, there are some companies that should fare well as the economy stumbles and consumers cut back.

You got it… discount retailers. Okay, so I know pretty much all retailers are slashing prices these days in a desperate bid to get folks to spend their hard-earned dough. But the ones who already boast a discount model as their bread-and-butter are better prepared. That includes sector bellwether Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT), plus bulk goods stores like Costco (Nasdaq:COST) and BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ), which also offer a huge range of items at bargain-basement prices.

Switch On And Profit

Another favorite safe haven sector during economic downturns is utilities. Again, the companies within it produce goods that consumers can’t live without: Energy and power such as electricity.

The Dow Jones Utility Average (^DJU) includes major power producers like American Electric Power Company (NYSE:AEP), Exelon Corporation (NYSE:EXC), Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED), and Southern Company (NYSE:SO), which generate reliable, repeat revenues and also pay hefty dividends.

And speaking of dividends, you could head to tiny Luxembourg this New Year and pick up a beefy one with steelmaker Arcelor-Mittal (NYSE:MT). A Business Week article cites the company as a potential turnaround performer next year, stating:
“Most analysts think it’s unlikely that Old World bourses will rally before the second half of 2009. Still, investors with more appetite for risk – and a willingness to pore over balance sheets – can find some good values even in cyclical businesses such as manufacturing. Bleak earnings outlooks have already been factored into many share prices.”

And having endured a brutal 2008, slumping from $78 to $24 a share, Arcelor-Mittal has announced widespread cost-cutting measures that includes shedding 9,000 jobs in a bid to save $1 billion. Its forward Price-to-Earnings ratio is just 2 and with Obama’s infrastructure revolution set to get underway in 2009, the global steel giant could be well poised to profit from it.

The “No-Hype” ‘09

As 2008 thankfully disappears, it will be more important than ever to stick to the tried-and-tested investing principles in 2009.

Right off the bat, that includes being very watchful for hype. In a down market, some companies will undoubtedly be keen to gloss over or downplay any bad news, for fear of causing harm to their stock prices in an already weak market.

Make sure the companies you invest in boast strong, honest management teams, with minimal spin and no excuses. It sounds simple, but look for companies with competitive advantages and which continue to grow revenues and earnings and even pay dividends as a key sign that they’re probably still in good shape.

Remember that with recession hanging over the economy – one projected to be the worst and longest since 1982 – upward momentum could be tough to achieve. Investors are still very skeptical and, among other things, are likely waiting for GDP growth to improve (or at least not be revised lower)… for corporate earnings to beef up… for job losses to ease… for Obama’s tax cuts… and to see what kind of effect Obama’s huge economic stimulus package proposal has. It will arguably take something around $750 billion to provoke much sustained, positive reaction.

So be very wary about bold statements, proclaiming that we’ve seen a bottom in the stock market. We probably haven’t yet. Meantime, consider some of the companies mentioned above and/or those that pay dividends.

Source: Three “Safe Haven” Sectors For Your 2009 Portfolio

• The world’s largest chemical company, BASF SE (ADR:BASFY), lowered its profit forecast and announced plans to halt operations at 80 factories. The Ludwigshafen-based company cited reduced orders from the auto, construction and textile industries, Bloomberg reported.

• Oil prices continue sliding, as U.S. crude fell to $53.30 a barrel yesterday (Wednesday) – the lowest price since January 2007. Oil has dropped almost two-thirds from its record $147 a barrel in July, Reuters reported.

• Mirroring the efforts of their U.S. counterparts, Chinese automakers are seeking government aid to breathe some life back into the world’s second-largest vehicle market. “Chinese automakers do need government’s help to survive the turmoil,” Zhang Xin, an analyst at Guotai Junan Securities Co. in Beijing, told Bloomberg. “There aren’t any policies yet for stimulating vehicle consumption and automakers need to shout louder to get the government to provide incentives.”

• October housing starts clocked in at the annual rate of 791,000, the lowest level since the U.S. Commerce Department began tracking them in 1959. Also, building permits last month fell 12% to the annual rate of 708,000, the lowest level since March 1975, Phoenix Business Journal reported.

• Honeywell International Inc. (HON) yesterday (Wednesday) landed a $52 million contract to supply jet engines to Italy-based Alenia Aermacchi, The Associated Press reported.  Honeywell did not disclose the number of engines being supplied or a delivery timetable.

• Federal Reserve policymakers expect the U.S. recession to last as long as a year or longer, according to edited minutes of a closed-door meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee on Oct. 28 and 29, MarketWatch reported. Fed governors and bank presidents “generally expected the economy to contract moderately in the second half of 2008 and the first half of 2009, and agreed that the downside risks to growth had increased,” the minutes said.

• Research firm ShopperTrak predicts a record-low increase in holiday sales of 0.1%, Reuters reported. The group also says holiday traffic could decline by as much as 9.9% as shoppers stay at home and hunt for bargains online. “Currently we’re anticipating the lowest retail sales and total U.S. traffic numbers we’ve seen since we started compiling this data in 2001, Bill Martin, co-founder of ShopperTrak, said in a statement.

• BJ’s Wholesale Club Inc. (BJ) yesterday (Wednesday) reported a 24% jump in quarterly profit. BJ’s profit rose to $28.2 million, or 48 cents per share, in the quarter ended November 1, up from $22.7 million, or 35 cents per share, a year earlier.

Source: Global Investing Roundups Thursday, November 20th, 2008

• Influenced by online retail giant Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), web-based auction site eBay Inc. (EBAY) announced it would be reducing listing fees for sellers who choose the set-price “Buy it now” option. It’s a huge shift for eBay, but management hopes the changes will increase inventory and attract more buyers seeking the ease of “one-click” shopping, BusinessWeek reported.

• The Mortgage Bankers Association announced the level of mortgage applications is at its lowest point in eight years, as lending standards remain tight despite the drop in housing prices. The decline was due in part to the lack of new construction the nationwide association said, the Tampa Bay Business Journal reported.

• The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. yesterday (Wednesday) announced plans to modify loan terms for IndyMac Bancorp Inc. (OTC: IDMC) customers in an effort to keep people in their homes and avoid foreclosure, CNNMoney.com reported. The FDIC has targeted 25,000 customers who are most delinquent on their loans and will begin working with them to provide more affordable payments and reduce investor losses.

• U.S. crude oil for September delivery settled 45 cents higher at $114.98 a barrel yesterday (Wednesday) after a day of volatile trading in which prices swung from between $112.61 and $117.03. The decline in gas stockpiles pushed prices higher, while the surge in oil supplies pulled oil lower, according to Neal Dingmann, director of equity research at Dahlman Rose, CNNMoney.com reported.

• Shares of Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (ADR: STP) shot up over 12% yesterday (Wednesday) with a gain of $4.62 to close at $41.75. The China-based solar energy company reported expectation-beating second quarter earnings and raised its guidance for the rest of the year, Forbes reported.

• Warehouse retailer BJ’s Wholesale Club Inc. (BJ) yesterday (Wednesday) reported fiscal second-quarter earnings increased to $36.5 million, or 61 cents a share, from $36.3 million, or 55 cents a share, for the same period the year prior. Earnings per share included a 5-cent boost from non-sales related cost cuts, Bloomberg News reported, and shares dropped almost $3 to close at $37.71.

• Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) reported fiscal third-quarter 14% jump in profit that thrashed Wall Street expectations. HP said it earned $2.03 billion, or 80 cents per share, in the latest period, up from $1.78 billion, or 66 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding one-time charges, HP’s profit was 86 cents per share, three cents higher than the average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

• The Tennessee Valley Authority yesterday (Wednesday) approved an electric rate increase of 20% — the hike largest in 34 years The Associated Press reported. The TVA cited sky-high fuel costs and a three-year drought that has sharply reduced its ability to generate cheap hydroelectric power. Most of the rate hike is a temporary fuel adjustment charge that varies quarterly, though TVA officials predicted the charges would continue to grow through smaller increases in the future.

Source: Global Investing Roundups Thursday, August 21st, 2008

Bush’s comments didn’t do much for investors confidence. Shares in troubled mortgage outfits Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac tumbled, along with most other financial stocks.

The bottom line is the U.S. financial system is now beyond credibility, as James Howard Kunstler puts it. And Dubya and his Republican party will be remembered as the party that broke America.

With the death of the IndyMac Bank (NYSE:IMB) last week, and the GSEs Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE) laying side-by-side in the EMT van on IV drips, headed for the Federal Reserve’s ever more crowded intensive care unit, there was a sense of the American Dream having passed through the event horizon that denotes the opening of a black hole.

What would happen if the U.S. government acted to bail out these feckless enterprises (and what if they don’t)? Either way, it’s not a pretty picture. If Mr. Bernanke does start shoveling loans into the GSE black hole, he’ll further undermine the soundness of his own outfit and do nothing, really, to repair Fannie and Freddie’s structural problem of having securitized too many loans that will never be paid back. If instead Fannie and Freddie are flat-out taken over entirely by the U.S. government (and remember the Federal Reserve is not the government), then the national debt will roughly double overnight – which will pound the U.S. dollar down a rat-hole.

Meanwhile, the foreign holders of those decrepitating dollars might not rush to the redemption window, but they certainly would use them to buy up every oil futures contract on God’s not-so-green Earth as fast as possible – they’d be dumb not to – which would leave American Happy Motorists with gasoline prices north of $5 a gallon, and possibly north of $10. (In that case, say goodbye to the airlines. In fact, say goodbye to what passes for the rest of the US economy, including especially the vaunted retail sector that supposedly counts for 70 percent of the action.)

If Fannie and Freddie are left to die out on the desert floor, say goodbye to the housing market, the major investment banks, countless regional banks, the retirement accounts of virtually everyone in America, the viability of all fifty states’ governments, and the day-to-day operating ability of all their municipalities – and very likely the current incarnation of the world banking system.

This process is really out of control now. The bottom line is the comprehensive bankruptcy of the United States. The Republican Party under George Bush will be known as the party that wrecked America (release 2.0). Painful as it is, Americans had better get a new “Dream” and fast. It better be a dream based on the way the universe actually works, which is to say an operating procedure run on earnest effort and truthfulness rather than merely trying to get something for nothing and wishing on stars. We might begin symbolically by evacuating Las Vegas and calling in an air strike on the loathsome place – to register our new reality-based attitude adjustment.

Source: Event Horizon

• Retailers reported a 4.3% increase in sales in June gain as rebate checks again bolstered consumer spending. Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT), BJ’s Wholesale Club Inc. (BJ) and Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) were also among the best performers.

• Toyota Motor Corp. (ADR: TM) will start producing the hybrid Prius in the United States for the first time as the Japanese automaker adjusts its manufacturing operations to meet demand for smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles, the Associated Press reported. The company said Thursday it will start producing the Prius in late 2010 at a plant it is building in Blue Springs, Miss.

• Appliance maker Whirlpool Corp. (WHR) said yesterday (Thursday) that it will close two plants in an effort to streamline manufacturing, the Associated Press reported. Approximately 1,250 jobs will be lost as a result of the closings.

• Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva visited Vietnam yesterday (Thursday) to enhance trade relations between the two nations. “Our bilateral trade remains too small compared with our capability,” Silva said through a translator at a joint news conference with his Vietnamese counterpart, Nguyen Minh Triet.

• General Electric Co. (GE) announced yesterday (Thursday) that it would spin off its GE Consumer & Industrial Group in an effort to bolster a sagging stock price, Bloomberg News reported. Two months prior, GE announced it was selling its well-known appliance division.

• Wachovia Corp. (WB) appointed Robert K. Steel as the new chief executive officer for the Charlotte-based commercial bank. He replaces Kenneth Thompson. Dealing with problem assets still on the bank’s balance sheet is “mission No. 1,” Steel said, DowJones reported.

• The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) wants Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates to ensure that the reopened $35 billion tanker contract bidding for the U.S. Air Force is fair and even this time around, MarketWatch reported. “We are calling for aggressive oversight of the bidding process to make sure [The Boeing Co.’s (BA)] tanker is evaluated on a fair, level playing field,” said IAM General Vice President Rich Michalski. “We will not accept, nor should American taxpayers accept a process or an outcome that is only slightly less rigged than the initial round of bidding.”

• Crude oil for August delivery closed at $141.60 yesterday (Thursday) on the New York Mercantile Exchange after a jump of $5.60 a barrel, which recouped some of the previous days’ losses. “This market, losing $9 in two days, has really been oversold,” Zachary Oxman, senior trader at futures brokerage Wisdom Financial, told MarketWatch. “Geopolitical pressures mixed with the oversold condition are” driving up oil prices.

Source: Global Investing Roundups Friday, July 11th, 2008

Clearly, we were correct. Although gasoline prices have hit the $4 market in many places, this is hardly the peak. Even though gas prices rose for 14 straight days – a streak 6that ended last week – oil prices have continued their surge, as well, meaning prices at the pump still haven’t caught up with oil prices.

Here’s the question many are asking now: Will Memorial Day represent the peak in gas prices (not very likely)? Or will July 4th now become the new target date for those energy prognosticators?

With investors and traders alike returning from the long holiday weekend, oil-and-gas prices will remain high on their radar screens. For now, those “low supply/high demand” naysayers seem to be winning out over the “weak dollar/speculation” conspirators and gasoline prices in excess of $4.00 a gallon are now a fait accompli.

Far in excess, in fact. Money Morning Investment Director Keith Fitz-Gerald, a longtime energy bull who first predicted triple-digit oil prices back in 2002 (a correct projection, as we know), is now predicting that oil prices will reach $225 a barrel within a just few short years.

New earnings releases this week will reveal how both discounters and high-end retailers are being impacted by both the sluggish economy and rising gas prices. Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST), Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) and Tiffany & Co. (TIF) all report, though investors increasingly seem to be welcoming such profit news with a collective yawn these days. Consumer confidence and personal income/spending give investors a more accurate view of the mindset of the consumer, who, after all, accounts for as much as 70% of the U.S. economy’s gross domestic product (GDP). Investors also get a reminder of the weak first-quarter activity, with a revised the revised release of GDP (originally reported as +0.6%); since many analysts believe a buildup in inventories pushed the number up above where it should have been, the revised statistic could be much lower – meaning that renewed talks of a U.S. recession are sure to follow.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York will host a conference at the Colombia Business School with New York Fed President Timothy F. Geithner and Donald L. Kohn, the vice chairman of the Fed Board of Governors, pontificating on money market issues (as well as other timely topic). Finally, with U.S. Sen. Barack Obama very close to wrapping up the Democratic presidential nomination, his policies on taxes, the economy, entitlements, drilling, globalization, and other key issues will dissected much more now than ever before in the past.

Market Matters

Memorial Day 2008 could not get here soon enough for investors (or at least for the declining numbers of consumers who still could afford to take advantage of this long holiday weekend).

After a week of obsessing over gas prices, they can analyze how those (pessimistic) travel prognostications actually panned out. For 16 straight days, AAA reported record prices at the pumps with the recent average of $3.875/gallon getting dangerously close to the dreaded $4 per gallon mark (as we noted, that psychologically important barrier has already been eclipsed, in many places). AAA even predicted that Americans will travel less this Memorial Day than they did last year, the first such decline since 2002. A Deloitte & Touche LLP survey projected that 23% of folks have changed their plans because of the rising prices, with 12% of respondents canceling their vacations, altogether. While some analysts targeted Memorial Day as the date for gas prices to peak, others are now looking at 4th of July, Labor Day, and beyond.

In reality, the jury is still out for the energy sector altogether. In one group, analysts say that crude prices (which actually punched through the $135 a barrel level this week) still have a ways to go. They claim that supply will not keep up with the summer demand and point to the recent inventory levels, which have unexpectedly fallen of late. Demand in such developing nations as China continues to rise, and the devastating earthquake has only made matters worse. Additionally, some believe that the International Energy Agency is preparing a very pessimistic report on global supply/demand issues as it conducts a thorough review of the world’s largest oil fields.

On the other hand, another group of analysts believe the declining dollar and sheer speculative pressures have more to do escalating crude prices than do actual supply concerns. They scoff at any real rationale for prices rising $4 in one day, $9 in one week, and $16 in one month. But while some feel that the elevated prices are not economically justifiable, they cannot predict with any accuracy when this “speculative mania” will end.

According to one, “it’s a fool’s errand to try and figure out when it’s going to be over. [After all], Internet stocks took a year and a half to explode.”

Some oil-industry executives even believe that the politicians are to blame and are pushing for Congress to lift the “tree-hugger” ban on domestic drilling in certain environmental regions – instead of begging “friends” in Saudi Arabia to increase production. Of course, that’s more than a bit self-serving on the part of the oil companies.

Retailers highlighted the corporate news last week. Home Depot Inc. (HD) reported a 66% decline in income, while Target Corp. (TGT) announced weaker sales, as well. On the other hand, BJ’s Wholesale Club Inc. (BJ) reaped the benefits of shoppers traveling the discount route, and surprised investors with much-higher-than-expected profits. Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) recognized strong overseas sales, while U.S. automaker Ford Motor Co. (F) warned that its future looks bleak as drivers shy away from the gas-guzzling sport-utility vehicles and perennially popular Ford F-150 pickup trucks that have comprised a major slice of its business in favor of more-economical cars and hybrids that are a lesser part of its business mix. Ford’s shares skidded 4.1% Friday after the company backed off its oft-repeated objective of returning to profitability in 2009.

• Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd said yesterday (Thursday) that it would buy Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc. (MLNM) for $8.8 billion in the largest-ever overseas acquisition by a Japanese drug maker. The friendly cash offer of $25 per share – a 53% premium the closing Millennium share price on Wednesday – is expected to improve the company’s cancer drug business.

• U.S. retail gas prices extended their record run yesterday (Thursday), the national average price of a gallon of gas rose 1.4 cents overnight to a record $3.357 a gallon, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Prices have set a string of records in recent weeks, and are 56 cents higher than a year ago.

• The number of workers applying for unemployment benefits fell by a larger-than-expected 53,000 last week the Labor Department said.  Jobless claims fell to 357,000 in the week ended April 5 from an upwardly revised 410,000 in the previous week. Still, the four-week moving average of new claims, rose to 378,250, the highest since October 2005.

• Passenger car sales rose for the sixth straight year in India, where growing demand and tax cuts sent sales up 12% to 1.2 million units from March 31, 2007 to the same day this year. “India’s economic growth story has really benefited the automakers,” R.K. Gupta, who owns shares of carmakers among the $100 million he manages at Credit Capital Asset Management Ltd, told Bloomberg. “Going forward, there are issues. Growth is going to slow in India and the higher interest rates are going to hurt.”

• China’s quarterly trade surplus fell for the first time in more than three years, as exports slowed the nation’s growth. The trade surplus shrank 10.2% to about $41.6 billion in the first quarter compared to the same period a year earlier, Bloomberg reported.

• AMR Corp.’s (AMR) American Airlines announced it canceled 933 flights yesterday (Thursday) to continue inspections on MD-80 aircraft wiring. American has now canceled 2,500 flights since Tuesday, Reuters reported. The carrier estimates 100,000 travelers have been affected by the cancellations.

• Amgen Inc. (AMGN) rose 2.39, a 5.75% increase to close at 43.98 after a ruling from U.S. District Judge William Young that Roche Holding Ltd.’s (OTC: RHHBY) anemia medicine Mircera violates patents owned by Amgen. Roche plans to appeal the ruling. Standard & Poor’s equity analyst Steve Silver said, “any legal delay in Mircera’s launch will continue to be viewed favorably for AMGN, though we expect the shares to remain volatile as the situation continues to unfold.” Silver has a hold ranking on Amgen shares, BusinessWeek reported.

• BJ’s Wholesale Club Inc. (BJ) stock gained on news that same-store sales rose more than analysts expected with a 6% increase in March, MarketWatch reported. Total sales increased 8.5% to $858.1 million for the month. Shares gained $1.43, a 4.05% increase, to close at $36.76.