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The Euro lost its earlier gains from a five-day upward trend against the dollar and German 10-year bonds rose while the majority of European stocks fell ahead of tomorrow’s EU summit. Industrial metals turned out to be the leaders in growth among trading instruments. The 17-nation unified currency fell 0.2% to $1.3905 as of 8:11AM in London. Yields on 10-year German bonds dropped 2 basis points to 2.10%. Approximately two stocks fell for each stock that rose on the Stoxx Europe 600 Index; the index as a whole lost 0.2%. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 0.2%, while copper rose 1.1%, continuing its biggest two-week growth trend since 2009. Rice rose to its highest level in over a month. DT Trading analysts think that the world-wide growth in demand for products from Asian auto manufacturers is the main driving factor behind the growth in commodities prices, in spite of the market’s overall incredulity toward equity instruments and...

US stocks rose during trading in New York yesterday, forming a peak in the best eight-day growth for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index since 2009 amid expectations that the economy will continue to recover. However, DT Trading analysts observed that such growth still didn’t prevent speculation arising as a result of the antitrust suit the US Justice Department brought against AT&T Inc (T). Shares of the Ford Motor Co (F) and Alcoa Inc went up 2.3% each since the companies most tied to the real economy experienced growth. Joy Global Inc (JOYG) added 1.3% growth after the mining equipment producer published its income forecast which exceeds analysts’ expectations. Shares of AT&T fell 3.9%, limiting the growth of the Broad Market Index. This occurred after the US government filed a suit to prevent the company’s planned purchase of competitor T-Mobile USA Inc. The government said that the purchase would hinder competition on the wireless communications market. DT Trading analysts noted that...

US stock markets are down, and the S&P 500 Index has been in a depression for the fourth day in a row. All Treasury securities have collapsed after members of Congress failed to show any kind of progress in reaching an agreement on raising the country’s debt ceiling. The dollar appreciated, while commodities became cheaper. Deep Trust Trading Analysts observed that the S&P 500 lost 0.3%, dropping to 1,300.67 points as of 4:00PM in New York. The index’s total drop for the week is currently at 3.3%. Futures on the index fell 0.2% at 6:31PM yesterday after Speaker of the House John Boehner postponed a vote on a bill concerning the debt limit. The drop in treasury bills issued in February, payments on which should be made right after August 2, boosted their yields by four basis points to 0.15%. The dollar index rose 0.2% and the S&P GSCIproduct index fell 0.2%. Stocks lost all of the gains they made since...

Stocks Positive guidance from tech bellwether IBM triggered huge gains among global tech shares on Tuesday. The optimism than carried over to broader market as major equity indexes were all very much in the green. IBM shares rallied nearly $10 to close at 185.21 after it raised its full year earnings forecast to $12.87/share. Following IBM, the NAsdaq1 gained 2.22% to 2826, while the S&P 500 and Dow 30 each rallied by 1.6%. Over in Europe, the CAC 40 and DAX were each up around 1.2% while the FTSE added 37 points to 5790. Also higher was Coca Cola which added $2.20 and closed at a 10 year high of 69.32. Looking ahead to Wednesday, tech shares are expected to continue leading the markets, as traders respond to after the close earnings reports from both Apple Computers and Yahoo. Commodities After ten straight winning sessions, prices of Gold finally headed lower today as risk buying caused traders to sell the precious metal. As such,...

Looking for a commodities play that gets you into the metals, energy and the fertilizers? BHP Billiton Limited (BHP) is it. This Zacks #1 Rank (strong buy) is expected to see double digit earnings growth in both fiscal 2011 and 2012. Yet, shares are still cheap with a forward P/E of only 9.9. BHP Billiton is one of the world's largest commodities producers. Headquartered in Melbourne, it produces, aluminum, coal, copper, iron ore, uranium, nickel, silver and titanium minerals, and potash. It also has production and exploration interests in oil and gas in 6 countries which puts it in among the top 15% of the world's oil and gas producers. Buying Petrohawk Energy If BHP Billiton's name sounds familiar, it's because the company was recently in the news for its July 15 merger agreement with Petrohawk Energy, a U.S. onshore natural gas and liquids shale play. BHP Billiton will pay $12.1 billion in cash for the outstanding shares of Petrohawk plus it will assume $3...

This is your Benzinga news summary and traders' outlook for Monday, July 18, 2011, covering headlines from overnight and Monday's pre-market session. Today in domestic pre-market trading, U.S. equity futures are trading lower following more concerns of more European debt problems. The U.S. dollar is trading higher this morning as the Euro falls over 0.75%. Earlier this morning, Citigroup upgraded Arch Coal (NYSE: ACI) to Buy and Morgan Stanley upgraded Clorox (NYSE: CLX) to Equal Weight. View all of today's upgrades here. JP Morgan downgraded LinkedIn (NASDAQ: LNKD) to Neutral, Pacific Crest downgraded Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) to Sector Perform, and Morgan Stanley downgraded Scripps Networks (NYSE: SNI) to Equal-Weight. View all of today's downgrades here and view all other analyst ratings here. Overseas, European markets dropped this morning. Britain's FTSE 100 fell about 0.8% and France's CAC 40 tumbled 1.1% on the session. Asian stocks were mixed on the session. China's Shanghai Index shed 0.1%, Japan's Nikkei 225 added 0.4%, and Hong Kong's Hang...

Over the weekend, the news broke that Precision Castparts would buy aerospace manufacturer Primus International for $900 million. On Monday, the buyer, which engages in metal casting, was down 0.6%. Nestle purchased a 60% stake in Hsu Fu Chi, a Chinese confectioner, for $1.7 billion. Despite this deal dramatically increasing its presence in the Asian market, the Swiss food giant fell 1.1%. In pharmaceuticals, Arch Chemicals was bought for $1.2 billion by The Lonza Group. Arch was up 12.3% by the bell, exceeding the premium offered. Also that day, NCR acquired Radiant Systems, a retail and hospitality manufacturer, for $1.2 billion in an all-cash deal. This announcement was met with negative sentiment on the markets. The buyer, which produces self-service technologies, was down almost 1.9% while Radiant dropped 2.3%. Tuesday saw Gaz Metro take over Central Vermont Public Service Corporation for $472 million, bringing Vermont’s two largest public utilities companies together. Central Vermont’s price fell by 2.6%, while Valener Inc, which has a...

The euro recovered some of its recent losses on Wednesday, in spite of Ireland being downgraded to junk by Moody's. At the moment, the euro added 0.82% to its value against the U.S. dollar to trade around $1.4091. At the same time, the euro surged against the Japanese yen as well. Currently, the euro is trading around ¥111.65, up 0.84%. The big question is where do traders find optimism about the troubled European currency? The focus of investors quickly shifted from Italy to Ireland on Wednesday, as Moody's downgraded Ireland to junk. In fact, it seems incredible how investors can follow all the debt problems in the Eurozone. A week ago it was all about Greece, yesterday it was Italy, today it is Ireland. Every day a new country it seems. Ireland, only a shadow of once mighty Celtic Tiger, has been the second Eurozone member to ask for a bailout, right after Greece. Ireland's bond spread over Germany has been growing...

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO), the leader in networking equipment, is considering cuts to its workforce that could number as many as 10,000 people, two people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. The proposed cuts, which could amount to 14% of its workforce, would be enacted in order to reduce costs and revive profit growth. Cisco announced this spring that it was aiming to save $1 billion in the fiscal year 2012. The expense cutting initiative is echoed by other big companies in the U.S., including investment bank Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS). According to the Bloomberg report, "The cuts include as many as 7,000 jobs that would be eliminated by the end of August, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans aren't final. Cisco is also providing early-retirement packages to about 3,000 workers who accepted buyouts, the people said." The flood of talent leaving Cisco will undoubtedly be a plus for other technology companies that are looking to pick...

Some of the stocks that may grab investor focus today are: Alcoa Inc (NYSE: AA) reported downbeat second-quarter profit. Alcoa posted its quarterly profit at $322 million, or $0.28 per share, up from $136 million, or $0.13 per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding charges, Alcoa's income from continuing operations came in at $0.32 per share. Its revenue surged to $6.59 billion from $5.19 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.34 per share on revenue of $6.32 billion. Alcoa shares Wall Street expects Fastenal Company (NASDAQ: FAST) to report its Q2 EPS at $0.30 on revenue of $688.58 million. FAST shares gained 2.78% to $37.00 in after-hours trading session. Esterline Technologies Corp (NYSE: ESL) will replace Bucyrus International Inc in the S&P MidCap 400 index, and Rubicon Technology Inc (NASDAQ: RBCN) will replace Esterline Technologies in the S&P MidCap 400 after the closing bell on July 12. ESL shares gained 1.73% to close at $81.96 yesterday, while RBCN shares surged 3.84% to...