Panasonic Corp gained 3.9% on announcement that the company plans to drop 50% of the 7000 strong workforce at its headquarters.

The worst hit of equities was the Renesas Electronic Corp dropping 16.4% to a record low after announcement that the company plans to raise 100b yen for a restructuring.

The FRSEurofirst 300 is up .1% being held by Spanish concerns. The Spanish 10 year bond yield remains at close to 6.5% where they see 7% as being unsustainable. The Spanish IBEX dropped 1.9%.

Commodities are looking alright this morning with crude, gold and silver up while natural gas remains a laggard.

Amazon is one stock to keep your eye on; regardless of being put on Goldman’s top 50 short positions they are making moves. They announced a deal last week with paramount to bring movies to their Prime Instant Video service over the next few years. They also plan on offering prepaid internet service for smart phones and tablets in Japan, which could shortly thereafter be launched in the US.

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

Additionally, many investors blame lead underwriter (MS) and as such,Morgan Stanley’s stock price has dropped this week to $13.24, down 43% year-to-date.

In the wake of its more than $2 billion in trading losses, J.P. Morgan Chase, down 1.44% today, is expected to change its risk policy committee in the coming days. Reportedly, the change was in the works before the company on disclosed losses tied to wagers on corporate-credit indexes placed by a unit called the Chief Investment Office, which included a trader who has been called the London whale for his market-moving bets.

Overall, the markets were mixed today and finished flat, only slightly negative. The DOW, Nasdaq, and S&P all finished negative but none were down more than a quarter of a percent. The price of crude oil finished up .15% and gold futures were up .94%

Thomas Doherty is an undergraduate student at Villanova University majoring in Finance and Economics. For comments and questions, email Thomas@KeeneOnTheMarket.com

Unprofitable:  I lose money on this trade if SPY closes above $134.25 June 1, 2012.  The most I can lose on this trade is the amount I paid can be worth $1 minus the price I sold it for, $.25 for a total of $.75.  

Reason I Like This Trade:  I think the SPY is in a “Sell the Rally” mode, so I want to get short on any rally.  I make money on this trade if the SPY goes down, flat, or up a little bit

UPDATE 5.29.2012  With time on my side, even with a nice rally today in the stock market, this Spread is only worth $.28.  I like selling premium in the weeklies.  I will leave this Spread on as I think every rally in the stock market is a sale.

UPDATE 5.30.2012  With the stock market selling off, this Spread is currently worth $.16, but I am still leaving it on for more potential profits.

UPDATE 5.31.2012  I took this spread off today for $.03, it was not worth risking $97 to make $.03  Another winner at KOTM

Read more about break by www.keeneonthemarket.com

In today’s economic report, data showed consumers are more upbeat than they have been since the most recent recession. The Reuters/University of Michigan’s sentiment index rose more than expected at the end of May from earlier this month. Crude oil prices increased above $91 a barrel, a gain of 0.4%, while gold rose 0.5% to $1,565.

Facebook (FB) continues to drop after its highly publicized IPO and has once again, lost almost 3% and is now trading at $31.85, well belows its initial-public-offering price of $38. VeriFone (PAY) has slumped after lowering their third quarter estimates amid acquisition and restructuring costs and is currently trading at $37.83.

VeriFone Systems Inc (PAY) posted a net income of $14.5 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2012 or $0.13 per diluted share compared with a net loss of $3.1 million or ($0.03) per share in the previous quarter and a net income of $25.2 million or $0.27 per share in the year-ago quarter. Excluding one-time charges but including stock-based compensation expense, net income came in at $0.54 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny.
VeriFone reported revenues of $472 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2012, up 61.4% year over year and up 12.5% sequentially.
Based in San Jose, California, VeriFone designs, markets and services a transaction automation system that facilitates electronic payments between consumers, merchants and financial institutions.

VeriFone expects to see strong demand in the third quarter as well. However, concern looms large over the potential impact of a declining euro and other currencies when converted into U.S. dollar. For the third fiscal quarter, VeriFone expects to report net revenues between $495 million and $500 million. Excluding stock-based compensation, net income per diluted share is projected between $0.68 and $0.70. For fiscal 2012 (including 10 months of Point revenues), VeriFone expects to report net revenues between $1.900 billion and $1.925 billion. Excluding stock-based compensation, net income per diluted share is projected between $2.60 and $2.66.

Contributer Thomas Doherty is a student at Villanova University majoring in Finance and Economics. All questions and comments can be sent to Thomas@KeeneOnTheMarket.com

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