Bond yields lower on CPI data

Morning News of Note:

• GILD RHHBY: Roche, Gilead End Tamiflu Dispute Agreement Is Part of Effort To Build Up Stocks of Flu Drug Swiss drug maker Roche Holding AG said Wednesday that it has ended a dispute with U.S.-based Gilead Sciences Inc. over the manufacture of Tamiflu, in what they said was a joint effort to build up stocks of the drug in the face of a threatened flu pandemic. Roche will pay Gilead $62.5 million in retroactive royalty adjustments, and the two companies said they will establish a joint committee to oversee coordination of global manufacturing of Tamiflu, or oseltamivir, and a coordination panel for the commercialization of the drug for seasonal sales in the most important markets, including the U.S. (Full Story) WSJ
• GOOG: Google Expands Search Options Google Inc. today plans to begin offering a service called Google Base that will accept a wide range of content from businesses and consumers that others will be able to search. The Base service aims to make it easy for people to distribute content, from recipes to job listings, whether or not they have their own Web sites. (Full Story) WSJ
• MWD: Morgan Stanley to Fire Two Dozen Bankers, Person Says Morgan Stanley, the only major U.S. securities firm to report lower third-quarter earnings, will fire about two dozen senior investment bankers, said a person with direct knowledge of the plans. As many as 25 managing directors will be told this week they're no longer needed, said the person, who declined to be identified. (Full Story) Bloomberg
• Online Advertising: Top Web Sites Build Up Ad Backlog, Raise Rates Prime Spots Are Sold Out Months Ahead as Marketers Shift Dollars From TV, Print As marketers shift dollars from TV and print media to the Internet, more Web sites are hanging "sold out" signs on their most coveted pages and dramatically raising ad rates. The front pages of Yahoo Inc., Time Warner Inc.'s AOL and Microsoft Corp.'s MSN are sold out on big display ads for months in advance, ad buyers say. Web sites offering car-buying tips are booked so far in advance -- up to 18 months in some cases -- that they are selling ads for next year in a process similar to the way network TV spots are sold. (Full Story) WSJ
• Mad Money Summary: Cramer was positive on Latin America once again on his show and sees Chile as attractive. Cramer says that one way to invest in Chile would be through "The Chile Fund" but Cramer recommends buying that funds best stocks, ENI, VCO and SQM. He also sees CL as the best way to play Chile through an American company. Off of the GP buyout, Cramer believes that CCK and AIN could be the next takeover targets as their asbestos issues are behind them. Cramer said that USG, RPM and OI still have asbestos issues and are not likely to be the next GP. Cramer is also bullish on shares of CX as the current 55% tariff on Mexican cement will be suspended soon. Cramer was also negative on shares of BLDP and SLXP in his "Stump Cramer" segment.

Market Comments: The market is pretty much flat in early trading. Bond yields are down to 4.52% on the benign CPI data. Inflation hawks contend that the data understates inflation, but I would argue that the worst of the inflation spike is behind us, and the rate of change should moderate going forward.

Retailers are bouncing back just a little from yesterday, but mostly its a mixed bag in terms of a handful of stocks up and a handful that are down.

The market put in a downside reversal yesterday on higher volume. This is a negative event, and likely indicates that the market has more consolidating to do to work off its short-term overbought condition. I think the market takes a breather for a little. That could allow it to come on again next week in a traditional Thanksgiving rally.

long GILD