News about a planned U.S. stimulus package helped pull investors into the dollar on Monday but U.S. Treasury prices slumped on fears a price bubble is about to pop in the face of a massive wave of fresh debt.

European equities advanced for the fifth session in a row, spurred by gains in shares of oil companies on the back of rising crude prices. U.S. stocks were mostly lower as investors took profits on the rally that was racked up in thin trading last week.

Oil prices hit a three-week high as Israel’s deepening incursion into Gaza and a Russian gas dispute heightened fears about supplies.

Prospects for a swelling supply of government debt drove U.S. and euro-zone prices down. The U.S. Treasury said it would sell $16 billion of reopened 10-year notes and $30 billion in three-year notes this week.

While the issuance was broadly in line with market forecasts, it underscored this year’s looming surge of debt that will to fund government efforts to rescue the financial system.

U.S. President-elect Barack Obama plans $310 billion in tax cuts as part of a rescue package of up to $775 billion, senior Democratic aides said Sunday. German Chancellor Angela Merkel met her Social Democrat (SPD) coalition partners to discuss a second fiscal stimulus deal worth up to 50 billion euros ($68 billion).

The 30-year Treasury bond fell nearly three full points in price, pushing its yield up to 2.92 percent, up from a record low near 2.52 percent in December.

“The back-up in yields shows a growing sentiment toward questioning the lower rate environment we are in right now,” said George Goncalves, chief Treasury/TIPS and agency strategist with Morgan Stanley in New York.

The euro hit three-week lows versus the dollar, with weaker-than-expected Italian and Spanish inflation data and tax cuts in Germany expected to pressure the European Central Bank to soon cut rates further.

U.S. stocks fell as investors took profits following last week’s sharp gains.

“Right now we’re just watching and waiting to see if there is any news from the new administration and what type of news it will be,” said Frank Lesh, a futures analyst and broker at FuturePath Trading LLC in Chicago. “We got a little bit of profit taking here,” he added.

Shares of Apple Inc rose after chief executive Steve Jobs wrote a letter aimed at dispelling investor concerns about his recent weight loss. Shares of the iPod maker rose 4.4 percent to $94.75 in early afternoon trade.

Before 1 p.m., the Dow Jones industrial average was down 79.09 points, or 0.88 percent, at 8,955.60. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was down 3.27 points, or 0.35 percent, at 928.53. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 8.52 points, or 0.52 percent, at 1,623.69.

European equity markets were buoyed by the anticipation of further fiscal stimulus, drawing flows away from the safer-haven of government bonds.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares ended 1.9 percent higher at 873.01 points.

The telecommunications sector was one of the biggest gainers on the index on the first full day of 2009 trading for many, with Swisscom (SCMWY) rising 5.2 percent, Cable and Wireless adding 4.6 percent, Vodafone (VOD) up 4.3 percent and Portugal Telecom (PT) rising 4.6 percent.

Sharp losses for the euro, which was down 2.28 percent at $1.3559, also spread to euro/sterling, taking it to 0.9278, well away from record lows for the pound last week and easing momentum towards parity.

The dollar rose against a basket of major trading-partner currencies, with the U.S. Dollar Index up 1.74 percent at 82.923. Against the yen, the dollar rose 1.31 percent at 93.43 from a previous session close of 92.220.

Longer maturity government debt fell, but shorter-term debt was little changed to higher. The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell 34/32 in price to yield 2.47 percent, and the 30-year U.S. Treasury bond fell 102/32 in price to yield 2.94 percent.

Oil rose, and has gained more than 35 percent since Israel launched its attack on Gaza on Dec. 27, increasing concerns about the supply of crude from the Middle East.

U.S. light sweet crude oil rose $1.11 to $47.45 a barrel.

U.S. gold futures dropped, breaking below $850 an ounce, as investors took profits on the back of a dollar rally and signs of slowing physical demand.

Spot gold prices fell $22.45 to $852.60 an ounce.

Asian stocks rose to a two-month high on hopes massive government spending programs will revive a global economic recovery later this year.

The MSCI index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan climbed 1.6 percent to a two-month peak, while Japan’s Nikkei average gained 2.1 percent in a shortened session to reach a two-month high.

NEW YORK, Jan 5 (Reuters)

Here are eight stocking stuffers to unwrap.

1) The conversation between Libertarians and the rest of us (who aren’t on some nutty fringe) would go a lot smoother if we would all agree that laws and regulations do not prevent bad behavior.

Rather, they are merely guideposts to measure the quality of deviance in a way that allows the US’s local, state and federal judiciary to hand out retribution.

If you need further proof of this, I offer you two words – Bernard Madoff.

In an under-regulated world, Ponzi schemes might not be illegal. In fact, you can assume that is a near certainty, judging by the number of famous institutions and wealthy people that poured billions into Madoff’s fund, even as they suspected he was cooking the books.

The allure of that steady 9% return was just too strong… flies to the dung heap.

You have to wonder how many of Madoff’s investors will not only lose millions on the madman’s fund, then double those loses when the IRS goes all militia on their wacky offshore tax schemes. The latter is one of 2008’s most under-reported financial stories… as it will likely be in 2009.

2) Poor and middle-class people dream of the big investment score – the lottery… wealthy people, as the Madoff affair demonstrates, get all dewy eyed over 9%.

The reason is simple. Nine percent of $10 million is $900,000. That’s enough to survive on, even if it’s your only income. On the other hand, try living on 9% of $200,000 or 9% of $100,000…

Actually, if you don’t have health insurance and you live in a tent, you can probably stretch $18,000 out through a year, as long as you don’t pay the capital gains tax on it.

3) Now that the conservatives on the Supreme Court have opened the door for a new round of huge lawsuits against the Altria Group, you have to wonder what would prevent the President-elect, who can choke down some Marlboros, from joining a class-action suit.4) Here’s a play for all those union-hating people who believed, without verifying, all the recent bunk about how the United Auto Workers union is killing US automakers.

There is LUV in the air for you. Southwest Airlines trades around $7.50 today. Many of its employees, 7,200 ground-crew workers, haven’t had a raise since 2005. Ten-month long negotiations with these workers broke down in October.

LUV is profitable, its debt is manageable, and its earnings and revenues are slated to increase by about 10%. Additionally, though I hate the quarterly reporting game, LUV seems historically adept at producing earnings surprises on a regular basis.

Still, the best part of this play is it’s so Reaganesque… Southwest seems to hate its employees.

Nevertheless, LUV looks like one of 2009’s share-price doublers.

5) Here’s a sweet play that should tap into the infrastructure mania that’s about to sweep the world.

Find someone to give you good, long odds on an under/over bet that you won’t be reading at least 199 “First Great Obama Stock” promotions in the coming six months. Take the over.

Hell, I got an “Obama stock” via fax the other day – some 22-cent West Virginia coal play. Damn thing went up 10 cents the next day, too.

6) If you want to play the coming Obama/worldwide economic-stimulus infrastructure bubble, you’re going to have to get in soon.

In China, that would mean jumping on low prices General Steel Holding (NYSE:GSI). I’ve known the GSI guys for five years now – even before they were public.

Actually, I took a bunch of investors over to Beijing in 2004 and introduced them to the company just two hours before it went public.

Great company… great CEO… great management (much of its top management and board are from what I affectionately refer to as Beijing’s born-again Christian mafia).

Its earnings are slated to jump out of the roof next year. At around $4, GSI is a wicked steal.

GSI is one of 2009’s potential share-price triplers.

7) If you want to stay closer to home and still play the great-infrastructure-bubble-of-2009, then take a good look at Pasadena, California-based Jacobs Engineering (NYSE:JEC). But, do it fast, because it is destined to be a newsletter darling next year.

Multifaceted, JEC provides technical, professional, and construction services to industrial, commercial, and governmental customers worldwide.

It designs and engineers manufacturing plants that make chemicals and polymers, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, oil and gas refining, food and consumer products, and basic resources industries

It also designs and engineers infrastructure projects such as highways, roads, bridges, and other transportation systems, as well as water and wastewater treatment plants, water resources facilities.

Most analysts agree that JEC should see a nice jump in earning next year. It has a tiny amount of debt, which make its 20.5% return on equity that much more impressive.

JEC has the very real potential to be one of 2009’s safest share-price doublers.

Do your own homework on Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW), Vodafone (VOD), Cosco Singapore (CSCMY)… each could have a smoking hot 2009.

That’ll do it for this week. I’ve been traveling so, I need get home to Boston and get some of that New England Christmas spirit going.

Of course, one of the season’s happiest symptoms is the fact that so many of us return to a naïve child-like state that peace on earth – even for a few weeks – seems like a noble goal.

Merry Christmas (for those among you that find such a salutation applicable).

Source: Double- and Triple-Profit Ideas For 2009

• Companies from Russia and China are most likely to use bribes when conducting business abroad, says a report from Berlin-based corruption watchdog Transparency International (TI), Reuters reported. The least likely to bribe were Belgium and Canada, according to group’s 2008 Bribe Payers Index.

• Four days after rival J.M. Smucker Co. (SJM) cut its list price for Folgers coffee products, Kraft Foods Inc. (KFT) announced an immediate 10-cent price cut for its Maxwell House and Yuban ground and instant coffees. It marks the fifth price cut by major U.S. roasters this year, Reuters reported.

• Sales of existing homes fell again in October, says a report from the National Association of Realtors. Its index of pending home resales fell 0.7% to 88.9 from a revised 89.5 in September, Bloomberg reported.

• Smelters in China asked mining companies including BHP Billiton Ltd. (ADR: BHP) to pay 74% more to process copper next year, two sources told Bloomberg. Earlier this week, China – the world’s biggest iron and copper consumer – asked BHP and other mining companies to scale back prices of iron ore by 82%.

• Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) directors are moving in on selecting a candidate for its vacant chief executive officer post, and have gone as far as checking references on a few candidates, sources told The Wall Street Journal. One of the names considered is Arun Sarin, former CEO of Vodafone plc (VOD).

• FedEx Corp. (FDX) warned that it would finish its fiscal year 26% below the low end of its projected earnings, Dow Jones reported. “Demand for our services weakened sequentially throughout the quarter and global economic trends continue to worsen, substantially reducing our second- half outlook,” Chief Financial Officer Alan B. Graf Jr. said in a prepared statement.

• Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., the bank that filed the biggest U.S. bankruptcy, asked a judge to allow it sell its French unit to Nomura Holdings for $1, Bloomberg reported. According to its filing, Lehman was “unable to find an alternate solution or buyer.” And for the price (and liabilities that come along with it), Nomura would get employees, commercial records, information technology, furniture and other assets.

• The National Football League announced it will lay off 150 jobs in the next 60 days to cut costs in the face of recession. The job cuts are within the league offices, not the teams, Reuters reported.

Source: Global Investing Roundups Wednesday, December 10th, 2008

• Reeling from the housing and credit crisis, luxury-home builder Toll Brothers Inc. (TOL), reported a 41% dive in its fiscal fourth-quarter revenue, Bloomberg reported. “Unfortunately, the preliminary signs of stability we had discussed in early September were upended by the past month’s financial crisis,” Chief Executive Officer Robert Toll said in a statement.

• Despite first-half profit falling 35% and a reduced sales forecast, Vodaphone Group Plc (VOD) investors cheered the company’s plan to focus on cash generation and tightened capital, MarketWatch reported. The world’s largest mobile phone provider also raised its interim dividend by 3.2%.

• Tyco International Ltd. (TYC) more than doubled net income in its fiscal fourth quarter, The Wall Street Journal reported. But the electronics and security system provider projected that fiscal 2009 results would fall below analysts’ estimates.

• Cash-flush StatoilHydro ASA (STO) said it will buy an inital 32.5% stake in the Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s (CHK) 1.8 million-acre Marcellus shale gas reserve. StatoilHydro doled out nearly $3.4 billion for the unconventional energy source, filling a huge hole at Chesapeake, which has a heavy debt burden, Reuters reported.

• The price of oil hit a 20-month low yesterday falling $3.08 to settle at $59.33 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange – the lowest closing price since March 2007.

• Sirius XM Radio Inc. (SIRI) said yesterday (Tuesday) that its third-quarter losses totaled $4.88 billion, or $1.93 a share. Revenue more than doubled to $488.4 million, from $241.8 million, however. On an adjusted basis, revenue soared 16% from $529.2 million last year, to $612.8 million.

Source:Global Investing Roundups Wednesday, November 12th, 2008

Verizon Wireless is 55% owned by Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) and 45% owned by Britian’s Vodaphone Group PLC (ADR:VOD).

The deal values Alltel – the fifth-largest wireless carrier in the United States – at more than eight times its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA). Or about $22 billion, which includes Alltel’s debts.

In November, Alltel’s $27.5 billion sale to private equity firms TPG Capital and GS Capital Partners LP, an arm of Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS) was nine times EBITDA.

Alltel has 13 million customers and spans rural markets and smaller cities in 34 states, comprising a 5% share of the market. It also handles calls for Verizon and AT&T in areas where they don’t have coverage.

The purchase will allow Verizon to offer service in 57 rural markets. Synergies are expected to generate incremental savings of $1 billion in the second year after the deal closes, Verizon Wireless said a statement.

“This move will create an enhanced platform of network coverage, spectrum and customer care to better serve the growing needs of both Alltel and Verizon Wireless customers for reliable basic and advanced broadband wireless services,” Lowell McAdam, Verizon Wireless president and chief executive officer, said in the statement.

An Alltel acquisition would not only shoot Verizon Wireless past AT&T as the top U.S. wireless service provider, but it will also put additional downward pressure on the T-Mobile USA Inc. and troubled Sprint Nextel Corp. (S).

Telecom Titans Getting Bigger Around the World

The high profile merger of telecom titans has quickly developed into a strong global trend.

In Europe, France Telecom SA’s (FTE) $41.9 billion offer for Finnish fixed-line provider TeliaSonera AB (PINK:TLSNF) was rejected Thursday. But that doesn’t mean the deal is over.

“The question is how much can they raise the offer,” Thomas Romig, a fund manager at Cominvest Asset Management in Frankfurt, told Bloomberg Television.

Earlier this week, Telkom South Africa Ltd. (ADR:TKG) said it received a takeover offer from Mvelaphanda Resources Ltd. and Vodaphone.

And in China, the telecom market is undergoing a massive government-ordered restructuring – with the top six companies being melded into three – as the country ramps up efforts to adopt third-generation wireless technology.

Domestically, the industry trends only makes expansion more difficult for large – but not large enough – wireless providers such United States Cellular Corp. (USM), Rural Cellular Corp. (RCCC) and Shenandoah Telecommunications Co. (SHEN) to compete.

Unfortunately, that’s their problem to deal with because the mobile industry is expanding by leaps and bounds as customers increasingly ditch fixed-line service to wireless.

And the leaders of wireless service and technology are the ones that will thrive.

Source: Verizon to Buy Alltel for $28 Billion, Vaults Past AT&T as No. 1 U.S. Mobile Provider

• Bank of America Corp. (BAC) announced yesterday (Tuesday) that it would increase its stake in China Construction Bank Corp. to almost 11%, The Associated Press reported. The Charlotte-based bank plans to purchase 6 billion H-shares on or about June 5th, bringing Bank of America’s total investment in the Beijing-based bank to 10.75%.

• The S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index declined 14.4% from the same period the year prior, representing the biggest decline since the data began to be compiled in 2001. The home-price index has declined every month since January 2007, Bloomberg News reported. Rising foreclosure rates are adding to the oversupply of homes on the market, helping to keep home prices low.

• Vodafone Group PLC (ADR: VOD) announced yesterday (Tuesday) that Chief Executive Officer Arun Sarin plans to step down in July after five years as CEO, MarketWatch reported. The announcement came on the same day that Vodafone announced a record $13.2 billion (6.66 billion pounds) first quarter profit. Vittorio Colao, Vodafone’s deputy CEO and head of the group’s European operations will succeed Sarin.

• Homebuilder Standard Pacific Corp. (SPF) announced yesterday (Tuesday) it would receive a $530 million investment from private-equity firm MatlinPatterson Global Advisers LLC, Bloomberg News reported. Standard Pacific stock has been hard-hit by the housing recession, having lost over $1.4 billion in market value since 2005. “It’s definitely good news,” Matt Wilcox, a bond analyst at KDP Investment Advisors Inc. told Bloomberg. “It certainly gives them additional liquidity and time to weather this housing downturn.”

• Privately-held Switzerland company Landis&Gyr announced yesterday that it signed a deal to set up nearly 7 million “smart meters” in Texas that will allow consumers to manage their electrical consumption, Reuters reported, citing a source familiar with the talks that estimated the deal in the $360 million ball park. The deal comes in the face of rising energy prices around the world and heightened environmental awareness about wasted electricity.

• South Africa’s economy grew a pithy 2.1% in the first quarter, significantly below the 5.3% it moved in the previous three quarters and the slowest quarterly gain in more than six years. “The figures are grim,” Dennis Dykes, chief economist at Nedbank Group Ltd., South Africa’s fourth-largest bank, told Bloomberg. “The consumer side will remain under pressure given the higher interest rate environment and power problems are still a factor. We’re in a cyclical downturn that will extend into next year.”

• Gold futures dipped $18 an ounce to $907.90 in trading yesterday as the dollar regained strength. Another reason could be profit-taking, as gold moved 3% last week, Mark O’Byrne, a director at Gold and Silver Investments Ltd., suggested to MarketWatch.

Source: Global Investing Roundups: Wednesday, May 28th, 2008