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Equities Most Asian markets ended moderately lower on Monday. The Nikkei slid .5% to 9720, thanks to a downgrade of Japanese automakers by Citigroup. Nissan, Toyota and Honda all fell more than 2%. The Hang Seng lost .4%, and the Kospi eased .2%. Australia’s ASX 200 was a notable exception, rallying .6% as shares in mining giant BHP Billiton jumped 3.8%. Chinese trade data showed a trade deficit thanks to commodity imports, fueling investor demand for miners. European markets also ended lower. The Dax fell .2%, and the CAC40 slumped .6%. Hochtief, a construction service company tumbled 9.5% after cutting its outlook. The FTSE closed down fractionally, as gains in miners largely offset other losses. US markets ended mixed, as the market shed early gains. The Dow closed flat after rising 64 points earlier, while the Nasdaq and S&P both dropped .3%. Oil companies fell steeply as the price of US crude dropped 3%. Denbury Resources fell 5% and Anadarko Petroleum slumped 4.3%. Level3 announced...

Another earthquake struck Japan Monday, spreading pessimism among investors to shift away from trading in equities, causing the global markets to retreat where Tokyo Electric Power Co., the responsible firm of operating the crippled nuclear power plant in Japan, said that the earthquake that struck Japan a month ago may result in the plant’s releasing more radiation than Chernobyl reactor. Alcoa Inc posted disappointing sales, causing shares to decline; furthermore, BHP Billiton led the mining sector to drop as metal prices fell on a global scale. As of 6:50 EST the European gauge, STOXX 600 fell 1.19% to trade at 277.65. As for the euro area benchmark, the STOXX 50 it fell 0.86% to trade at 2948.89. The Swiss Market Index depreciated 0.95% or 61.38 points to trade at 6378.73. Within the STOXX 600 index, the sectors that dropped were the Basic Materials, Technology and Oil & Gas sectors respectively. The share that depreciated the most within the index was Delta Lloyds NV...

Below is a look at some of the headlines for companies that made news in the healthcare sector on April 11, 2011. Shares of Exelixis, Inc. (Nasdaq:EXEL) soared in the after hours market Monday after reports swirled that the company has retained Goldman Sachs for advisement of potential takeover bids for the company. The reports stated that some large pharmaceutical companys have expressed interest in Exelixis since the company reported positive preliminary data on its experimental prostate cancer treatment , XL184. In extended trading, shares of Exelixis jumped $1.07 or 9.68% to $12.12. Also after the bell Monday, shares of NPS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:NPSP) fell after the company announced that it has commenced an underwritten public offering of 9 million shares of its common stock pursuant to an effective shelf registration statement. After the bell, Merck (NYSE:MRK) today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved SYLATRON (peginterferon alfa-2b) for injection, for subcutaneous use. SYLATRON is indicated for the adjuvant treatment...

Some of the stocks that may grab investor focus today are: Wall Street expects Fastenal Company (NASDAQ: FAST) to report its Q1 EPS at $0.51 on revenue of $629.00 million. FAST shares dropped 0.04% to $67.47 in after-hours trading. Alcoa Inc (NYSE: AA) swung to a Q1 profit of $308 million, or $0.27 per share, from a loss of $201 million, or $0.20 per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding special items, the company's earnings came in at $0.28 per share. The company's sales increased to $5.96 billion from $4.89 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.27 per share on sales of $6.2 billion. AA shares dipped 3.15% to $17.21 in the after-hours trading session. Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE: PG) reported that its board lifted the quarterly dividend by 9% from 48.2 cents per share to 52.5 cents per share. PG shares fell 0.05% to $62.16 in after-hours trading. Analysts expect Mistras Group Inc (NYSE: MG) to report its Q3 earnings at...

Stocks & Commodities Gold and corn hit record highs on Monday, silver touched its highest in 31 years, lead hit a three-year peak and U.S. crude traded at its strongest in two and a half years as investors sought protection from inflation and fretted about supply. After rallying to a record high of $1,476.21 an ounce in early trade, spot gold eased back to $1,474.90, up $2.20 on the day, while silver traded 5 cents short of its 31-year peak at $41.93 struck earlier. Brent crude fell by over a dollar after the African Union said Muammar Gaddafi had accepted a roadmap for ending civil war, including an immediate ceasefire. U.S. crude for May delivery rose 23 cents to $113.02 a barrel and earlier touched $113.46, its highest in more than two and a half years. U.S. corn futures jumped 2 percent to a record on thinning stockpiles in top exporter the United States, as traders raised doubts about a government report that kept...

Impax Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ: IPXL) today confirms that it has initiated a challenge of the patents listed by Purdue Pharma L.P. in connection with Oxycontin® (Oxycodone hydrochloride) 10, 15, 20, 30, 40, 60, and 80 mg controlled-release tablets. Impax filed its Abbreviated New Drug Applicationcontaining a paragraph IV certification for a generic version of Oxycontin® with the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA). Following receipt of the notice from FDA that Impax's ANDA had been accepted for filing, Impax notified the New Drug Application holder and patent owners of its paragraph IV certification. On April 8, 2011, Purdue Pharma L.P., The P.F. Laboratories, Inc., Purdue Pharmaceuticals L.P., Rhodes Technologies, Board of Regents of the University of Texas System, and Grunenthal GBMH filed suit for patent infringement against Impax Laboratories, Inc. in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. This action formally initiates the patent challenge process under the Hatch-Waxman Act.

Asian stocks fell today as oil expanded its gains, which increased worries about the effect of the rising energy prices on the global recovery. The Japanese car producing companies saw a decline in their shares today after City Group lowered their rating today. The MSCI Asia Pacific was almost unchanged today at 136.63 at 13:55 in Tokyo. The yen started rising again against the dollar, which brought more losses to the Japanese companies. Nikkei 225 Nikkei 225 fell today by 0.50% or 48.38 points closing at 9719.70. From 225 shares, 90 advanced, 119 declined and 16 unchanged. Sectors leading the decline were the industrials that lost 16.73 points and consumer goods that lost 15.19 points. Lagging shares today were TDK Corp which fell by 3.06% closing at 4600 yen, second was Honda Motor Co Ltd which fell by 2.22% closing at 2903 yen. And Kyocera Corp which fell by 1.40% closing at 8460 yen. Among the shares that Secom co Ltd topped the list by...

S&P500: 1328.01 Short-Term Trend: weak uptrend Outlook: The market remained firm last week but at the same time couldn't break abv the 1340 level. The bulls can point out that the last week's price action is merely a pause (sideways consolidation) within the ongoing uptrend from the Mar low. And the bears can point out the fact that the market can't overcome the 1340/44 resistance as a sign of weakness. As the daily Stochastics has become overbought, we slightly favor the downside resolution here..... Strategy: Holding short from 1335 is favorable. Stop=1347. Target=1230.

Steve Massocca, Managing Director of Wedbush Securities was a guest on CNBC Friday. Massocca likes CBLI and SIGA technologies, two biodefense stocks that we have covered quite actively and continue expecting government grant/contract news from. Asked if there were any specific stocks is that might get impacted by a government shutdown because they depend on government revenues Massocca responded: "Well, yeah. a couple of names I wanted to mention today were SIGA Technologies (Nasdaq:SIGA) and Cleveland Biolabs (Nasdaq:CBLI), two companies expecting government contracts. Cleveland biolabs has an antiradiation poisoning product. Siga Technology has a defense for smallpox if there was bioterrorism. Both companies were expecting large government contracts shortly. Question: So you like them despite even if they get hit? "I would like them -- well, I like them and I would really like them if they did get hit," Massocca explained. "I'd be looking to buy these stocks if they got hit based upon a government shutdown. This is one of the...