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US stock market, economy and companies update (January 09, 2013)

Contributed by Trade The News

- European equities are just off their highs and US indices are up firmly this morning, with most analysts citing Alcoa's upbeat 2013 demand forecast. Note that both a former World Bank economist and an Alcoa executive stated overnight that they would not be surprised if China 2013 GDP topped 8%, adding to the risk-on tone.

- EUR/USD drifted lower during the New York session following weaker-than-expected German Industrial Production. GBP/USD tested below the 1.60 handle for five-week lows. Note that FX market focus is firmly on the BOE and ECB rate decisions on Thursday morning.

- Shares of Alcoa were up nearly 2.5% in the premarket after the firm's Q4 report yesterday after the close. While the firm's revenue was weak and earnings only just met expectations, investors are heartened by the firm's +7% forecast for 2013 global demand growth, which compares to their +6% 2012 forecast. Note that shares of AA have given up most of their gains in mid-morning trade.

- Boeing is bouncing higher, up more than 3% and gaining this morning in the wake of yesterday's troubles. Yesterday saw a fire onboard a Japan Airlines 787 Dreamliner in Boston, as well as a separate Japan Airlines 787 with brake problems. Overnight, Air India said that while the airline is dealing with some 787 electrical system problems its overall 787 fleet is flying smoothly.

- Goldman and Morgan Stanley are said to be holding discussions on foreclosure settlements similar to deal reached by other servicers this week. In addition, this morning there have been unconfirmed reports that Morgan Stanley would cut another 1,500 workers from the institutional securities and infrastructure support staff.

- Shares of Apollo Group were down more than 10% at one point this morning after reporting its third consecutive quarter of lower new enrollment and cut its FY13 revenue forecast. Shares of DeVry are down 8% in sympathy.

- Clearwire received a $3.30/shr unsolicited acquisition proposal from Dish Network, challenging Sprint's standing $2.97/shr offer for the remaining 50% of the company it does not already own.

***Looking Ahead***
- 11:00 (US) Fed to purchase $1.25-1.75B in Notes
- 13:00 (US) Treasury to sell $21B in 10-Year Notes Reopening
- 15:00 (IT) Italy PM Monti, MEP Goulard to present book in Rome
- 21:00 (CN) China Dec Trade Balance: $20.0Be v $19.6B prior; Imports Y/Y: 3.5%e v 0.0% prior; Exports Y/Y: 5.0%e v 2.9% prior

***Economic Data***
- (DE) Germany Nov Industrial Production M/M: 0.2% v 1.0%e; Y/Y: -2.9% v -2.9%e
- (PT) Portugal Nov Trade Balance: -0.7B v -€1.0B prior
- (EU) OECD Nov Inflation Y/Y: 1.9% v 2.2% prior
- (RU) Russia Dec Reserve Fund: $62.1B v $61.4B prior; Wellbeing Fund: $88.6B v $87.5B prior
- (US) MBA Mortgage Applications w/e Jan 4th: +11.7% v -10.4% prior
- (RU) Russia Dec Final Consumer Prices M/M: 0.5% v 0.5% prelim; Y/Y: 6.6% v 6.6%e; ; CPI YTD: 6.6% v 6.6%e
- (RU) Russia Dec Final CPI Core M/M: 0.4% v 0.5%e; ; Core YTD: 5.7% v 5.3% prior
- (PL) Poland Central Bank cut the Base Rate by 25bps to 4.00%; as expected
- (CA) Canada Dec Housing Starts (annualized): 198.0K v 195.0Ke
- (MX) Mexico Nov Final Trade Balance: -$1.3B v -$1.3Be
- (MX) Mexico Dec Consumer Prices M/M: 0.2% v 0.3%e; Y/Y: 3.6B v 3.8%e; CPI Core M/M: 0.1% v 0.2%e
- (BR) Brazil Dec Commodity Price Index M/M: % v 0.7% prior; Y/Y: % v 8.2% prior
- (US) Weekly DOE U.S. Crude Oil Inventories: crude: +1.31M v +2Me; gasoline: +7.41M v +2Me; distillate: +6.78M v +1.5Me; utilization: 89.1% v 90.5%e