Wall Street News Summary 07-07-11

The European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of England announced new monetary policy this morning, and two important employment data points reached the wire States-side. The corporate news includes a slew of retailers reporting same-store sales results for the month of June, and we have the morning's most active stocks list for you too.

Our founder earned clients a 23% average annual return over five years as a stock analyst on Wall Street. "The Greek" has written for institutional newsletters, Businessweek, Real Money, Seeking Alpha and others, while also appearing across TV and radio. While writing for Wall Street Greek, Mr. Kaminis presciently warned of the financial crisis.

Relative tickers: NYSE: VG, NYSE: GPS, NYSE: JCP, Nasdaq: COST, NYSE: LTD, NYSE: F, NYSE: GM, NYSE: MS, NYSE: PFE, NYSE: EMC, NYSE: NYX, Nasdaq: CONM, Nasdaq: HELE, Nasdaq: HITK, Nasdaq: ISCA, NYSE: KED, Nasdaq: PENX, Nasdaq: RMCF, Nasdaq: LEDS, Nasdaq: WDFC, NYSE: ZEP, Nasdaq: APAC, Nasdaq: IGOI, Nasdaq: NOOF, Nasdaq: CALI, Nasdaq: OCZ, AMEX: MCZ, Nasdaq: RENN, Nasdaq: DANG, Nasdaq: WSBF, NYSE: CTC, Nasdaq: BEBE, Nasdaq: PSMT, Nasdaq: SVBI, Nasdaq: URBN, Nasdaq: BORN, Nasdaq: AHPI, NYSE: MPG, NYSE: TGT, Nasdaq: APWC, Nasdaq: FEED, Nasdaq: JVA, Nasdaq: ENOC, Nasdaq: LCRY, NYSE: KSS, Nasdaq: HITK, NYSE: LL, Nasdaq: AFFX, Nasdaq: OCNFD, NYSE: FST, Nasdaq: PSOF, Nasdaq: HPJ, Nasdaq: SGOC, Nasdaq: SYSW, Nasdaq: AUTC, AMEX: INV, Nasdaq: IDRA, Nasdaq: GAI, Nasdaq: BABY, Nasdaq: TSRA, Nasdaq: ZHNE, Nasdaq: ASRV, AMEX: CNR, Nasdaq: CATO, NYSE: NOR, Nasdaq: NEWL, Nasdaq: FFHL, Nasdaq: BONE

Wall Street News Summary

ECB Raises Rates
The ECB raised its key rates as expected, hiking the rate for the main refinancing operations of the euro-system by a quarter point to 1.5%. The ECB also raised the rate on the marginal lending facility by a quarter point to 2.25% and the rate on the deposit facility by a quarter point to 0.75%. The actions were widely expected by the broader financial markets after ECB Chief Trichet forewarned of the bank’s inflation concerns. However, some question around ECB follow-through creeped back into the equation, as further European stresses recurred in Greece, and again this week on the rating downgrade of Portugal. The ECB, however, is like a large ship in that once it has decided on a direction, though that process may take awhile, it will be long in turning but will turn stubbornly nonetheless.

BOE Holds Course
The Bank of England (BOE) held steady on all guns. The official statement read, "The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee today voted to maintain the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves at 0.5%. The Committee also voted to maintain the stock of asset purchases financed by the issuance of central bank reserves at £200 billion."

Jobs Data

ADP Offers Bright View
ADP reported its Private Nonfarm Payrolls estimate for the month of June a day ahead of the official release of the Labor Department. ADP sees private payrolls increasing by 157K in June, far above the revised May estimate of +36K. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg see Private Nonfarm Payrolls rising by 125K for June, after marking an 83K increase in May.

Overall payrolls are estimated to increase by 110K when reported tomorrow. That’s lower than the private payroll estimate because public sector jobs are expected to cost the economy again in June.

Weekly Jobless Claims
Weekly Initial Jobless Claims fell by 14K to 418K in the July 2 period. While this is an improvement, it’s not enough of a change to raise an eyebrow on Wall Street this morning. The four-week moving average better illustrates my point, as it fell just 3,000 to 424,750.

Consumer Count
The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index, a weekly take of the consumer mood, declined to negative 45.5 in the July 3 period, down from negative 43.9 the week before. It seems that after reaching a 10-week high, consumers have reconsidered their temporary high.

Corporate Wire
Individual retailers will be reporting their Chain Stores Sales for the month of June Thursday and over the near-term generally. You won’t get any from Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), which composes a huge portion of America’s retail sales, but look for news from Macy’s (NYSE: M) and all the rest.

Limited Brands (NYSE: LTD) reported June same-store sales rose 12%, above street views. J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP) posted sluggish 2% same-store sales growth for June. The Gap’s (NYSE: GPS) 1% sales increase beat the street’s morbid views for a decrease. Costco (Nasdaq: COST) grew sales 14% and exceeded the high bar set by analysts for June.

Facebook made its new “awesome” announcement yesterday after the bell, reporting that it would indeed provide free video chatting via Skype technology. Has Facebook become your new phone company and given Skype exactly what it needed to get ahead of Vonage (NYSE: VG) and the rest? It appears so.

Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) may sell its non-core nutrition and animal health units over the next two years so it can focus on its low-cost pharmaceuticals growth.

A Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) analyst replaced Ford (NYSE: F) with GM (NYSE: GM) in his "best ideas." It should be noted that he still likes both stocks.

The corporate wire highlights a meeting at EMC (NYSE: EMC) and the NYSE Euronext (NYSE: NYX) shareholder vote on the proposed Deutsche Borse merger. The EPS schedule includes reports from Conmed Healthcare Management (Nasdaq: CONM), Helen of Troy (Nasdaq: HELE), Hi Tech Pharmacal (Nasdaq: HITK), International Speedway (Nasdaq: ISCA), Kayne Anderson Energy Development (NYSE: KED), Penford (Nasdaq: PENX), Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory (Nasdaq: RMCF), Semileds (Nasdaq: LEDS), WD 40 (Nasdaq: WDFC) and Zep (NYSE: ZEP).

Energy Data
The EIA will report on both Oil and Natural Gas Inventory this Thursday, due to the holiday. Catch the Natural Gas Report at 10:30 AM ET. Last week’s data covering the period ending June 24 showed natural gas inventory increased by 78 Bcf. However, stocks remained 243 Bcf less than last year at this time and 63 Bcf below the five-year average for this time of year.

The EIA’s Oil Inventory data is due for release at 11:00 AM ET. Last week’s data covering the period ending June 24 showed crude oil inventory fell by 4.4 million barrels, but remained above the upper limit of the average range for this time of year. Total motor gasoline stocks fell by 1.4 million barrels, and were in the middle of the average range for this time of year.

DC Doings
Senate Democrats meet with President Obama’s economic team Thursday to discuss the debt ceiling catastrophe in waiting. Democrats have been pushing back against the political leverage of the GOP, suggesting the Republicans should meet the Democrats’ cost cutting concessions with revenue supportive tax increases on the rich.

The CFTC works on some of the Dodd-Frank rules regarding agricultural commodities, swap reporting and manipulation protections. Kansas City Fed President Thomas Hoenig addresses a group at lunch.

Thursday’s Most Active Stocks

Stocks rising sharply today include APAC Customer Service (Nasdaq: APAC), iGo (Nasdaq: IGOI), New Frontier Media (Nasdaq: NOOF), China Auto Logistics (Nasdaq: CALI), OCZ Technology (Nasdaq: OCZ), Mad Catz Interactive (AMEX: MCZ), Renren (Nasdaq: RENN), E-Commerce China Dangdang (Nasdaq: DANG), Waterstone Financial (Nasdaq: WSBF), IFM Investments (NYSE: CTC), bebe Stores (Nasdaq: BEBE), Pricesmart (Nasdaq: PSMT), Severn Bancorp (Nasdaq: SVBI), Urban Outfitters (Nasdaq: URBN), China New Borun (Nasdaq: BORN), Allied Healthcare (Nasdaq: AHPI), MPG Office Trust (NYSE: MPG), Target (NYSE: TGT), Asia Pacific Wire and Cable (Nasdaq: APWC), AgFeed (Nasdaq: FEED), Coffee Holding (Nasdaq: JVA), EnerNOC (Nasdaq: ENOC), LeCroy (Nasdaq: LCRY), Kohl’s (NYSE: KSS) and Hi-Tech Pharmacal (Nasdaq: HITK).

Stocks falling sharply include Lumber Liquidators (NYSE: LL), Affymetrix (Nasdaq: AFFX), OceanFreight (Nasdaq: OCNFD), Forest Oil (NYSE: FST), Pansoft (Nasdaq: PSOF), Hong Kong Highpower (Nasdaq: HPJ), SGOCO (Nasdaq: SGOC), SYSWIN (Nasdaq: SYSW), AutoChina (Nasdaq: AUTC), Innovaro (AMEX: INV), Idera (Nasdaq: IDRA), Global Tech Advanced Innovation (Nasdaq: GAI), Natus Medical (Nasdaq: BABY), Tessera Technologies (Nasdaq: TSRA), Zhone Technologies (Nasdaq: ZHNE), AmeriServ Financial (Nasdaq: ASRV), China Metro-Rural (AMEX: CNR), Cato (Nasdaq: CATO), Noranda Aluminum (NYSE: NOR), NewLead (Nasdaq: NEWL), Fuwei Films (Nasdaq: FFHL) and Bacterin Int’l (Nasdaq: BONE).

Please see our disclosures at the Wall Street Greek website and author bio pages found there. This article and website in no way offers or represents financial or investment advice. Information is provided for entertainment purposes only.

Latest Days' Real Estate Malaise May Blind Your View of the Housing Turnaround

Be careful or you may end up like the same cattle that got herded into capital loss when the housing bubble burst. The latest days' housing malaise may cause you to miss the housing turnaround now before you.

Our founder earned clients a 23% average annual return over five years as a stock analyst on Wall Street. "The Greek" has written for institutional newsletters, Businessweek, Real Money, Seeking Alpha and others, while also appearing across TV and radio. While writing for Wall Street Greek, Mr. Kaminis presciently warned of the financial crisis.

Relative tickers: NYSE: BAC, NYSE: GS, NYSE: MS, NYSE: WFC, NYSE: TD, OTC: FMCC.OB, OTC: FNMA.OB, NYSE: PNC, NYSE: JPM, NYSE: BBT, NYSE: CIT, NYSE: BKU, Nasdaq: UBSI, NYSE: BK, Nasdaq: MBFI, NYSE: AF, NYSE: NYB, Nasdaq: HCBK, Nasdaq: PBCT, Nasdaq: FNFG, Nasdaq: CFFN, Nasdaq: WFSL, Nasdaq: ISBC, Nasdaq: NWBI, Nasdaq: STSA, NYSE: OCN, NYSE: FBC, NYSE: PFS, Nasdaq: COLB, Nasdaq: KRNY, Nasdaq: BRKL, Nasdaq: DCOM, Nasdaq: FFIC, Nasdaq: DNBK, OTC: FCNCA.PK, NYSE: SNV, Nasdaq: UBSI, Nasdaq: HMPR, Nasdaq: WSBC, Nasdaq: CHCO, Nasdaq: SASR, OTC: FCBN.OB, Nasdaq: SCBT, NYSE: WL, Nasdaq: WSFS, Nasdaq: SBSI, Nasdaq: STEL, Nasdaq: UBSH, Nasdaq: EGBN, Nasdaq: FBNC, Nasdaq: ABCB, Nasdaq: TBBK, Nasdaq: FCBC, Nasdaq: CCBG, Nasdaq: FISI, Nasdaq: NKSH, Nasdaq: CZNC, Nasdaq: CHFN, Nasdaq: SBCF, Nasdaq: TIBB, Nasdaq: AMNB, Nasdaq: UCBI, Nasdaq: MBRG, Nasdaq: HBOS, Nasdaq: ZION, Nasdaq: EWBC, NYSE: CYN, NYSE: BOH, Nasdaq: SIVB, Nasdaq: WABC, Nasdaq: CATY, Nasdaq: UMPQ, Nasdaq: GBCI, Nasdaq: PCBC, Nasdaq: PACW, NYSE: WAL, OTC: FBAK.OB, Nasdaq: FIBK, Nasdaq: NARA, Nasdaq: WCBO, Nasdaq: TCBK, Nasdaq: TBNK, Nasdaq: WCBO, Nasdaq: BMRC, Nasdaq: HAFC.

Latest Days' Real Estate Malaise May Blind Your View of the Housing Turnaround

The Weekly Applications Survey, produced by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), today offered bad news on the headline but a mixed message for those interested in a fuller read. I suppose that’s what you have me for...

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s weekly report of mortgage activity showed another decline. Last week’s data produced a decline as well, which came even despite improved mortgage rates. This week, a sharp spike in mortgage rates drove down refinancing activity and the overall metric. We suspect this nascent rising rate trend from a June trough could also be behind last week’s drop in mortgage activity, as the interest rate data are derived by a simple average of contracted fixed rate mortgages. The rise in rates likely began during the prior week period and affected activity then as well. Several resources we surveyed for daily mortgage rate trends turned up short (Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC.OB)). While a decline in average contracted rates defined the period, where the weekend fell and other factors might still skew activity in a dynamic rate environment.

This week’s reported data reflects the period ending July 1. The MBA’s Market Composite Index fell 5.2% through the week, driven by refinancing fizzle. The Refinance Index declined 9.2%, as mortgage rates spiked higher. Average contracted rates on 30-year and 15-year fixed rate mortgages increased to 4.69% (from 4.46%) and 3.79% (from 3.64%), respectively. For those contemplating mortgage refinancing, that kind of change is a real turn-off.

Here’s the good news for the patient among you:

The MBA’s Purchase Index, which measures mortgage applications tied to the purchase of a home, rose 4.8% against the immediately preceding week on seasonally adjusted basis. Considering the direction of mortgage rates, it would seem there may be some pent-up demand in the housing market chasing rates now. After all, the same change in rates had two different impacts on the two different segments of the market, if it had any impact on the more determined purchasers of homes at all.

There was more good news for real estate enthusiasts found in the year-to-year comparison. The Purchase Index was up 11.7% versus the year ago period. Last week, we saw the Pending Home Sales Index achieve year-over-year growth and home price rise as well; and so we called the bottom for the real estate market. This latest year-over-year trend seen now in many data-points should also show up when second half Existing Home Sales data reach the wire. Recall that the Pending Index measures contract signings, and that closures occur one to two months afterward. This latest mortgage application data seems to offer evidence that housing is finding momentum, because it reflects applications for the purchase of homes sought in late June.

The one caveat we have is that last year’s comparable period now also reflects a deflated market that saw demand drawn forward by the tax-incentive provided by the federal government for first time buyers. Still, I believe natural drivers will allow for housing market growth thereafter. We remind readers that all bets are off if the American government drops the ball on the debt ceiling legislation or even if the euro-zone blows up… or some other catastrophe presents itself. Otherwise, there are natural drivers such as population growth, net job creation and housing affordability that should not be ignored when one gets too comfortable with the latest days’ real estate malaise.



Editor's Note: Article should interest investors in Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC.OB), Fannie Mae (OTC: FNMA.OB), Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC), Toronto Dominion (NYSE: TD), BB&T (NYSE: BBT), CIT (NYSE: CIT), Bank United (NYSE: BKU), First Citizens (OTC: FCNCA.PK), Synovus (NYSE: SNV), United Bankshares (Nasdaq: UBSI), Hampton Roads Bankshares (Nasdaq: HMPR), WesBanco (Nasdaq: WSBC), City Holding (Nasdaq: CHCO), Sandy Spring (Nasdaq: SASR), First Citizens (OTC: FCBN.OB), SCBT Financial (Nasdaq: SCBT), Wilmington Trust (NYSE: WL), WSFS Financial (Nasdaq: WSFS), Southside Bancshares (Nasdaq: SBSI), Stellar One (Nasdaq: STEL), Union First Market (Nasdaq: UBSH), Eagle Bancorp (Nasdaq: EGBN), First Bancorp (Nasdaq: FBNC), Ameris (Nasdaq: ABCB), The Bancorp (Nasdaq: TBBK), First Community (Nasdaq: FCBC), Capital City (Nasdaq: CCBG), Financial Institutions (Nasdaq: FISI), National Bankshares (Nasdaq: NKSH), Citizens & Northern (Nasdaq: CZNC), Charter Financial (Nasdaq: CHFN), Seacoast Banking (Nasdaq: SBCF), TIB Financial (Nasdaq: TIBB), American National (Nasdaq: AMNB), United Community (Nasdaq: UCBI), Middleburg Financial (Nasdaq: MBRG), Heritage Financial (Nasdaq: HBOS), Zions Bancorp (Nasdaq: ZION), East West Bancorp (Nasdaq: EWBC), City National (NYSE: CYN), Bank of Hawaii (NYSE: BOH), SVB Financial (Nasdaq: SIVB), Westamerica (Nasdaq: WABC), Cathay General (Nasdaq: CATY), Umpqua (Nasdaq: UMPQ), Glacier Bancorp (Nasdaq: GBCI), Pacific Capital (Nasdaq: PCBC), PacWest (Nasdaq: PACW), Western Alliance (NYSE: WAL), First National Alaska (OTC: FBAK.OB), First Interstate Bancsystem (Nasdaq: FIBK), Nara (Nasdaq: NARA), West Coast (Nasdaq: WCBO), TriCo (Nasdaq: TCBK), Territorial (Nasdaq: TBNK), Washington Banking (Nasdaq: WCBO), Bank of Marin (Nasdaq: BMRC), Hanmi (Nasdaq: HAFC), PNC Bank (NYSE: PNC), J.P. Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), United Bankshares (Nasdaq: UBSI), Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE: BK), MB Financial (Nasdaq: MBFI), Astoria Financial (NYSE: AF), New York Community (NYSE: NYB), Hudson City (Nasdaq: HCBK), People’s United (Nasdaq: PBCT), First Niagra (Nasdaq: FNFG), Capitol Federal (Nasdaq: CFFN), Washington Federal (Nasdaq: WFSL), Investor’s Bancorp (Nasdaq: ISBC), Northwest Bankshares (Nasdaq: NWBI), Sterling Financial (Nasdaq: STSA), Ocwen (NYSE: OCN), Flagstar (NYSE: FBC), Provident (NYSE: PFS), Colombia Banking (Nasdaq: COLB), Kearny (Nasdaq: KRNY), Brookline (Nasdaq: BRKL), Dime Community (Nasdaq: DCOM), Flushing Financial (Nasdaq: FFIC), Danvers (Nasdaq: DNBK).

Please see our disclosures at the Wall Street Greek website and author bio pages found there. This article and website in no way offers or represents financial or investment advice. Information is provided for entertainment purposes only.

Business News Summary 07-06-11

Wednesday started the monthly employment data parade with news on announced job-cuts. However, the most important news of the day came from ISM, with its indicator flashing red for the service sector of the economy. Overseas, a ratings downgrade of Portugal and interest rate hike in China offered the market all the more reason for caution. However, on the stock side, Facebook is about to unveil its partnership with Skype, and the market seems to be rewarding the entire tech sector as a result. The SPDR Select Technology Fund (NYSE: XLK) is up a half point, but the Dow is defying gravity as well, up a half a point too today.

Our founder earned clients a 23% average annual return over five years as a stock analyst on Wall Street. "The Greek" has written for institutional newsletters, Businessweek, Real Money, Seeking Alpha and others, while also appearing across TV and radio. While writing for Wall Street Greek, Mr. Kaminis presciently warned of the financial crisis.

Relative tickers: Nasdaq: MSFT, Nasdaq: BIDU, NYSE: MCO, NYSE: MHP, Nasdaq: GOOG, NYSE: HMC, NYSE: TM, NYSE: WAG, Nasdaq: NFLX, Nasdaq: NSANY, Nasdaq: MITL, OTC: FUJHF.PK, NYSE: V, Nasdaq: SHLM, NYSE: AIR, AMEX: BMJ, Nasdaq: OCZ, Nasdaq: UNFY, Nasdaq: BCAR, Nasdaq: FFHL, NYSE: TRU, Nasdaq: IBCP, Nasdaq: SYMX, NYSE: PMI, Nasdaq: HTCH, Nasdaq: MOBI, Nasdaq: BORN, Nasdaq: BWOW, Nasdaq: DHRM, NYSE: DL, Nasdaq: TRBR, Nasdaq: SGRP, Nasdaq: ENG, Nasdaq: NSFC, Nasdaq: XATA, Nasdaq: WWON, Nasdaq: HHGP, NYSE: KCI, Nasdaq: DANG, AMEX: VHC, Nasdaq: RENN, Nasdaq: PTIE, AMEX: CNR, Nasdaq: TSTF, Nasdaq: DRWI, Nasdaq: CBAN, Nasdaq: CACB, Nasdaq: PLCC, Nasdaq: IPCI, Nasdaq: FRBK, Nasdaq: OCNFD, NYSE: NBG, NYSE: GTN-A, NYSE: LAS, Nasdaq: YRCW, Nasdaq: ONVI, Nasdaq: ZN, Nasdaq: LZEN, Nasdaq: SNSTA, Nasdaq: HAST, Nasdaq: ZNWAW, Nasdaq: BSDM, Nasdaq: ZAGG, Nasdaq: SMTX, Nasdaq: CYTXW, Nasdaq: FARM.

Business News Summary

Job Cuts
Challenger Gray & Christmas today reported that Announced Corporate Layoffs increased for the second consecutive month in June. Reported job-cuts rose to 41,432 in June, up from 37,135 in May and 36,490 in April. The level of cuts remains moderate, though this recent trend is certainly somewhat concerning. That said, the mid-year total of 245,806 firings was the lowest in 11 years. ADP’s Private Employment Report has been moved to Thursday due to the holiday shortened week.

Service Sector Woes
The most influential economic report of the day arrived from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM). ISM reported its Non-Manufacturing Index for the month of June. The service sector metric showed deterioration in the critical segment, as it declined to 53.3% in June, down from 54.6% in May. Economists thought the index would approximate 54.0%, but the depth of decline was significantly worse. Given its proximity to the 50 mark, which separates economic expansion from contraction, the market had good enough reason to worry today.

Same-Store Sales
Redbook today reported June same-store sales rose 0.9%. For the week ending July 2, Redbook reported same-store sales rose 5.2% against the prior year. The International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) reported that sales increased 3.5% against the year ago period, and moved 1.5% higher against the immediately preceding week.

Weekly Mortgage Activity
After declining the week before despite a moderation in contracted mortgage rates, mortgage activity slipped again this week. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported its Market Composite Index fell 5.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis through the week ending July 1. However, the Purchase Index, which measures mortgage applications tied to home purchases, increased 4.8%. The Refinance Index fell for the third straight week, dropping 9.2% against the immediately preceding week. There was a large increase in contracted fixed rate mortgage rates behind the drop, as the 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate moved up to 4.69% from 4.46%, based on contract signings.

Overseas

China Raised Interest Rates
The Chinese Central Bank raised its key interest rate for the fifth time in nine months today. China has a different sort of problem than we do, for now. The Chinese are contending with uncontained asset market growth accompanied by wildly rising prices, and so our rivals on the other side of the earth are employing different monetary and fiscal measures than we are these days, with our quantitative easing on top of bottom dollar interest rates.

Portuguese Ratings Downgrade
Moody’s (NYSE: MCO) downgraded Portugal’s sovereign debt rating to junk bond status from investment grade. The ratings agency said there’s great risk Portugal will need another bailout. This of course followed yesterday’s news that Standard & Poor’s (NYSE: MHP) judged the latest discussed European banking measures with regard to Greece as an effective default of Greek debt. Needless to say, the euro is not holding up well this day, dropping 0.7% to its lowest in a week at $1.4322 (11:30 EDT).

DC Doings
In DC, President Obama has a Twitter town hall planned, and he’ll be talking about jobs and the economy. Senate Democrats are meeting with the president and vice president today to discuss the debt ceiling. The FDIC is holding a meeting to consider how it will wield its new powers to liquidate large failing financials. The EPA will likely issue a ruling with regard to limiting interstate toxic emissions from power plants.

Corporate Newswire

Everyone is waiting on Facebook and its big announcement. Highly touted, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg will today make an "awesome" announcement. The rumor wire is churning that Facebook will partner with Skype to provide video conferencing on Facebook. Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) only just unveiled its Google+ social networking effort. GOOG is up 1% today, and we expect Skype and Facebook shares would be doing well if we could trade them publicly.

Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is working with Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) to provide English language search results in China through its Bing search engine. All the usual safeguards will of course remain in place to prevent liberty breaking out. Microsoft is up about a point today, with Baidu unchanged.

Honda Motors (NYSE: HMC), still suffering from the earthquake, reported today that its sales into China fell 29.9% in June against the prior year. Its first half sales were down 12.3%. At the start of the year Honda had forecast Chinese market growth of 12%, but like Toyota Motors (NYSE: TM), it is now hampered by production issues tied to the earthquake. Honda and Toyota shares are up nearly 1% today, as either the news was better than expected or Honda offered other reason for hope in its release today.

Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) is heading south of the border, expanding into Latin America. Netflix launched in Canada last year, and is targeting 43 new markets across Central and South America and the Caribbean. NFLX is down fractionally at this hour after an immediate jump on the news yesterday.

Walgreen (NYSE: WAG) reported a 4.8% increase in its June same-store sales, which was above the 2.9% expected by analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters. Growth was attributed to pharmacy and front of the store offerings. WAG is up more than a percentage point on the news.

Otherwise on the corporate wire, look for analyst and shareholder meetings at Mitel Networks (Nasdaq: MITL), Fuji Heavy Industries (OTC: FUJHF.PK) and Visa (NYSE: V). The earnings schedule has news from A. Schulman (Nasdaq: SHLM), AAR Corp. (NYSE: AIR), Birks & Mayors (AMEX: BMJ), Ocz Technology Group (Nasdaq: OCZ) and Unify (Nasdaq: UNFY).

The day’s most active stocks included on the up-side: Bank of the Carolinas (Nasdaq: BCAR), Fuwei Films (Nasdaq: FFHL), Torch Energy Royalty Trust (NYSE: TRU), Independent Bank (Nasdaq: IBCP), Synthesis Energy Systems (Nasdaq: SYMX), PMI Group (NYSE: PMI), Hutchinson Technology (Nasdaq: HTCH), Sky-Mobi Limited (Nasdaq: MOBI), China New Borun (Nasdaq: BORN), Wowjoint (Nasdaq: BWOW), Dehaier Medical (Nasdaq: DHRM), China Distance Education (NYSE: DL), Trailer Bridge (Nasdaq: TRBR), SPAR (Nasdaq: SGRP), ENGlobal (Nasdaq: ENG), Northern States Financial (Nasdaq: NSFC), XATA (Nasdaq: XATA), Westwood One (Nasdaq: WWON), Hudson Highland (Nasdaq: HHGP), Kinetic Concepts (NYSE: KCI), E-Commerce China DangDang (Nasdaq: DANG), VirnetX (AMEX: VHC), Renren (Nasdaq: RENN), Pain Therapeutics (Nasdaq: PTIE); and on the down-side: China Metro-Rural (AMEX: CNR), Teamstaff (Nasdaq: TSTF), DragonWave (Nasdaq: DRWI), Colony Bankcorp (Nasdaq: CBAN), Cascade Bancorp (Nasdaq: CACB), Paulson Capital (Nasdaq: PLCC), Intellipharmaceutics (Nasdaq: IPCI), Republic First Bancorp (Nasdaq: FRBK), OceanFreight (Nasdaq: OCNFD), National Bank of Greece (NYSE: NBG), Gray Television (NYSE: GTN-A), Lentuo Int’l (NYSE: LAS), YRC Worldwide (Nasdaq: YRCW), Onvia (Nasdaq: ONVI), Zion Oil & Gas (Nasdaq: ZN), Lizhan Environmental (Nasdaq: LZEN), Sonesta Int’l (Nasdaq: SNSTA), Hastings Entertainment (Nasdaq: HAST), Zion Oil & Gas (Nasdaq: ZNWAW), BSD Medical (Nasdaq: BSDM), ZAGG (Nasdaq: ZAGG), SMTC Corp. (Nasdaq: SMTX), Cytori Therapeutics (Nasdaq: CYTXW) and Farmer Brothers (Nasdaq: FARM).

Please see our disclosures at the Wall Street Greek website and author bio pages found there. This article and website in no way offers or represents financial or investment advice. Information is provided for entertainment purposes only.