Month: January 2013

From Fnno.com, this is the Financial News Network. Here’s a few things to watch for in the financial world today January 29.

Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) looking out for their bottom line as they announce as many as 1,000 job cuts. The heart device maker said the planned change is part of a restructuring program that will save the company an additional $100 million to $115 mil

JB Hunt Transport Services (JBHT) had its numbers raised by Credit Suisse (CS) based on intermodal growth. A neutral rating was issued with a $68 price target.

Stocks are mixed midday on drop in pending home sales and unexpectedly positive durable goods orders for December. These two economic reports showed that while manufacturing may be regaining momentum, lower pending sales of existing homes could indicate uncertainty in the housing sector.

Wabtec Incorporated (WAB) maintained its quarterly dividend of 5 cents per share. The dividend is payable on March 1, 2013 to holders of record on Feb.

The Hershey Company (HSY) had its price target raised by Deutsche Bank (DB) to $72 with a hold rating, as the firm believes that the company deserves a higher premimum to its valuation. Shares are lower by about eight tenths of a percent.

NiSource Incorporated (NI) maintained its quarterly dividend of 24 cents per share. The dividend is payable on February 20, 2013, to common stockholders of record at the close of business Feb.

In trading on Monday, waste management shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 1%. Leading the group were shares of Waste Management (WM), up about 3.6% and shares of Casella Waste Systems (CWST) up about 3% on the day.

Investors are kicking off the new trading week that will bring a plethora of earnings announcements. Good morning, this is Kristin Bianco with the Week Ahead Market Report for January 28, 2013.

By CountingPips.com

The latest weekly Commitments of Traders (COT) report, released on Friday by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), showed that large futures speculators boosted there bets in favor of the euro against the US dollar to the highest level in over 18 months.

Non-commercial large futures traders, including hedge funds and large International Monetary Market speculators, increased their bets for the euro, Japanese yen, Australian dollar and New Zealand dollar as of January 22nd while cutting their bets in the British pound sterling, Swiss franc, Canadian dollar and the Mexican peso.

Individual Currencies Large Speculators Positions:

EuroFX: Large currency speculator sentiment for the euro rose last week for a third consecutive week and to the best level since early in July of 2011. Euro positions rose on January 22nd to a long position of 21,381 contracts after the previous week’s total of 7,315 net long contracts on January 15th. Open interest was at 216,059 contracts from the previous week’s open interest of 211,373. Euro positions have jumped to their best level since July 5th 2011 when long positions equaled 43,194 contracts and when the EUR/USD was trading at the 1.4456 spot level.

The COT report is published every Friday by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and shows futures positions as of the previous Tuesday. It can be a useful tool for traders to gauge investor sentiment and to look for potential changes in the direction of a currency or commodity.

Each currency contract is a quote for that currency directly against the U.S. dollar, a net short amount of contracts means that more speculators are betting that currency to fall against the dollar and a net long position expect that currency to rise versus the dollar.

(The graphs overlay the forex spot closing price of each Tuesday when COT trader positions are reported for each corresponding spot currency pair.)

GBP: British pound sterling positions fell last week after a rise the previous week. British pound speculative positions dropped to a total of 17,938 net long contracts on January 22nd following a total of 28,338 net long contracts on January 15th. This is the lowest level for pound sterling large speculator positions since November 27th when positions equaled 10,270 long contracts.

JPY: Japanese yen speculative contracts improved slightly last week and rose for a sixth consecutive week after falling to the lowest level in years on December 11th. Japanese yen positions improved to a total of 64,068 net short contracts reported on January 22nd following a total of 65,727 net short contracts on January 15th. Yen positions dropped to a low level of 94,401 short positions on December 11th and then have climbed higher for the last six weeks.

CHF: Swiss franc speculator positions decreased last week after touching the highest level since June 2011 the previous week. Speculator positions for the Swiss currency futures declined a total of 6,384 net long contracts on January 22nd following a total of 12,770 net long contracts as of January 15th. Swiss franc large speculator positions, on January 15th, were at their best level since June 14, 2011 when net long positions equaled 13,287 contracts.

CAD: Canadian dollar positions fell last week after a small increase the previous week. Canadian dollar positions declined to a total of 57,952 net long contracts as of January 22nd following a total of 68,668 net long contracts that were reported for January 15th. Canadian dollar speculative positions are at their lowest level since December 4th when long positions equaled 57,071 contracts.

AUD: The Australian dollar positions rose again last week to climb for a fourth straight week. Aussie speculative futures positions increased to a total net amount of 97,011 long contracts on January 22nd after totaling 89,057 net long contracts as of January 15th. Australian dollar contracts continue to be at a large bullish level against the US dollar with a recent high level reached on December 11th with 103,376 long contracts.

NZD: New Zealand dollar speculator positions advanced higher again last week to rise for a fifth consecutive week. NZD contracts increased to a total of 23,532 net long contracts as of January 22nd following a total of 22,262 net long contracts on January 15th. The New Zealand dollar speculator positions are just below the 2012 high level that was reached on December 11th with a total of 24,600 contracts.

MXN: Mexican peso speculative contracts dipped slightly last week following the previous week’s increase. Peso positions edged lower to a total of 150,037 net long speculative positions as of January 22nd following a total of 151,665 long contracts that were reported for January 15th. Peso positions, on January 15th, were at their highest level since at least 2009 and surpassed the highest level of 2012 which was 149,355 long contracts on December 24th.

Article by CountingPips.com – Forex News & Market Analysis