Alexza Pharmaceuticals Inc. is a pharmaceutical company that specializes in research and development of drugs that treat central nervous system conditions. One of Alexza’s most well known products is Stoccato nicotine, a vaporized drug that helps smokers by catering to the chemical and behavioral components of quitting. They are also in the process of developing a painkiller that would help cancer patients and patients with acute pain episodes.

Alexza can expect to hear the results of their marketing application from the FDA within a couple of weeks. Their marketing application was delayed after the FDA cited issues with its Mountain View, California manufacturing facility.

David Cornes holds a degree in economics from the University of Montana.

Anheuser-Busch InBev NV (BUD) is in the process of acquiring Grupo Modelo (GPMCY), most famous for brewing Corona beer, for a deal valued at more than $12 billion. BUD’s shares rose almost 1% this morning and GPMCY rose over 12%.

Across the Pacific, Sony Corp. (6758.TO) and Panasonic Corp (6752.TO) made an agreement to develope a new organic light-emitting large screen TV. Sony was down about 2.5% and Panasonic was up just over .5%.

In the drug industry, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY) and Pfizer (PFE) fell almost 4% and 1.3% respectively after the FDA requesting more information about their drug Eliquis.

Oil companies were taking losses across the board this morning as crude continued to fall and Brent crude fell below the significant $90 level. Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM) was down over 2.25%, Chevron (CVX) was down almost 2% and BP PLC (BP) was down 2.22%. WTI crude futures were down $1.37 (-1.72%) and trading at $78.39.

Gold futures rose $8.80 to 1575.70 and Euro futures fell .6% to $1.2497. Natural gas futures rose 6.70 cents (2.55%) to $2.6920.

After a midday rally in the green the Hang Seng slid to finish .5% in the red. China Coal Energy was the
index’s biggest loser at 2.79% down.

European shares start with a thud down 1.2% to a one week low. The banking, automotive,
construction & technology sectors were all down 1.1-1.4%. It seems everyone has given up hope on the
European Summit before it even begins. Individual stocks that took a beating today were Shire, after US
regulators ruled against the company’s generic copy of Adderall XR, and Nokia, down 7% after analysts
said its partner, Microsoft, may turn into a rival selling its own smartphones.

Netflix is up this morning in pre-trade after being upgraded to neutral from sell and its current price,
$67, being rated as fair value.

Amazon has struck a deal to supply LoveFilm, its streaming service, with content from News Corp’s 20 th
century fox movie and TV library.

Commodities are starting the week mixed, with silver down and crude continuing its slide, and gold and
natural gas looking upward.

Contributer Chris Rygh is currently pursuing his MBA in Wisconsin and has a passion for the Market.
Comments can be directed to ryghcw19@uww.edu

Late Thursday, Moody’s cited significant exposure to volatility and risk of large losses from capital markets activities in its ratings cuts.Despite the downgrade, analysts took a positive view on the market, sighting that the downgrades on the whole were slightly less negative than many had feared.

In Europe, markets were mostly lower, with the Stoxx Europe 600 down -0.7%, as more downbeat economic data weighed on sentiment.

In corporate news, Ryder System slid; leading the S&P 500 lower, after the truck-rental company lowered its second-quarter and full-year earnings outlooks, citing lower-than-expected demand for commercial rental products. This could be a major indicator as the trucking provider slows; a possible sign of slowing manufacture.

Facebook rose, extending its more-than-20% rally from its early-June lows, which followed concerns about the social network’s valuation and botched initial public offering.

Thomas Doherty is an undergraduate at Villanova University majoring in Finance and Economics. Thomas@KeeneOnTheMarket.com

U.S. stocks have been all over the place this morning with a net gain. S&P 500 futures were up 5.25 points (.4%) at 1323.50, NASDAQ futures gained 11 points (.43%) to 2562.75, and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 59 points (.47%) to 12561.00.

WTI crude futures bounced $1.14 to $79.34 after yesterday’s decline. Gold futures fell $2.90 to $1562.60.

Sony Corp. (SNE) was up 5.68% after rumors that they may invest in Olympus, another Japanese tech company.

Bank of America Corp. (BAC) was down 4% after yesterday’s downgrade and was trading up .45% this morning, peaking up 1.3% in pre-market trading.

Ryder (R) was down over 12.5% after the transportation logistics company reduced its quarterly and full-year earnings expectations based on low demand. Ryder’s 2012 earnings expectations are between $3.65 and $3.85 a share.

Revenues for Q2 2012 were $3.5 billion, compared with last year’s Q2 revenue of $3.6 billion, a strong number considering CCL’s Costa Concordia disaster that occurred over the winter. The stock’s 52-week low is $28.52 and the high is $38.83. Over the past quarter the shares have gained 9.40% of their value.

Yesterday, CCL had high options trading volume, breaking a 3-month options volume record of 9,131 call, and 22,833 put contracts traded. Usually high options volume like this is a sign that the underlying stock will move.

The Hang Seng dropped 1.4 today with its biggest loss going to Li & Fung Ltd of 5.48%.

Business activity in the Euro Zone fell for a fifth straight Month in June, along with the manufacturing
slowdown led Euro stock to fall with the FTSEurofirst 300 losing .4%. Leaders of Spain, France, Italy and
Germany are meeting in Rome today try and restore some confidence ahead of the EU Summit next
week. Like Japan, banks outperformed the market in Europe up 1.2% led by Spanish banks after the
latest rounds of audits yesterday showed a need of 62B Euros, not the anticipated 100B bailout.

In pre-trade Ford is hit by poor customer satisfaction ratings in JD Power place due to customer
confusion over its new technology MyFord touch infotainment system, lowering stock 3.6%.

Morgan Stanley is looking good after not getting hit by Moody’s’ yesterday up 3.4% before market open.

Commodities are looking alright to start with natural gas, crude and gold all starting in the green and
just silver looking down.

Contributer Chris Rygh is currently pursuing his MBA in Wisconsin and has a passion for the Market.
Comments can be directed to ryghcw19@uww.edu

Stocks slid to session lows after analysts at Goldman Sachs recommended that clients set up short positions in the S&P 500. The analysts set a short target for the benchmark index at 1285, about 4% lower than current levels, writing that Thursday’s soft U.S. reports “provides further evidence that weakness has extended into June.”

Energy and materials stocks led all 10 of the S&P 500’s sectors lower after reports showed that business activity in the euro zone and manufacturing activity in China each contracted in June.

The Dow had rallied 6.1% from June 4 through the session before the Fed’s policy decision, largely on hopes for stimulus measures.

European markets turned lower after the weak U.S. data. The Stoxx Europe 600 fell -0.5% and broke four-day winning streak. Most Asian stock markets fell on worries about the Chinese economy after the gauge of China’s manufacturing activity showed more weakness.

Thomas Doherty is an undergraduate at Villanova University majoring in Finance and Economics. Thomas@KeeneOnTheMarket.com