Markets pulling back

Morning News of Note:

• GDT JNJ: Guidant Sues J&J in Bid to Keep Pact Quarterly Earnings Sink As Heart-Device Failures Remain at Center of Dispute Medical-device maker Guidant Corp. dug in its heels by filing a lawsuit against its would-be merger partner, Johnson & Johnson, as Guidant reported third-quarter earnings that were more dismal than expected. Guidant's lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson, filed in federal district court in Manhattan, seeks to force medical giant Johnson & Johnson to go through with its contract to buy Guidant (Full Story) WSJ
• GE VIA: CBS, NBC to Offer TV Shows for 99 Cents CBS and NBC have announced deals to offer replays of prime-time programs for 99 cents per episode, shifting television toward a sales model that gained popularity with downloaded music. CBS is teaming up with Comcast Corp. and NBC with satellite operator DirecTV to offer the on-demand replays (Full Story) Washington Post
• AMD INTC: AMD Tops Intel in Supplying PCs Advanced Micro Devices Inc. last month surpassed Intel Corp. in supplying chips for personal computers sold in U.S. retail stores, a market-research company is slated to report today. The company, Current Analysis, says it expects Intel may take back the lead in November. Retail stores, moreover, represent a narrow slice of the PC market, excluding major manufacturers such as Dell Inc., which use only Intel chips. (Full Story) WSJ
• AAPL: APPLE'S IPOD ATTACK: 1M PC USERS GET MACS PC users are converting to Macintosh computers in growing numbers, thanks in part to the stunning success of the Apple iPod. "The 'halo effect' is clearly alive and well," said Charles Wolf, an analyst at Needham & Co. (Full Story) NY Post

Market Comments: The market is pulling back this morning, although its still early. I would not be surprised to see another modest consolidation day. Oil is up a bit, so the energy stocks are getting a bounce. Biotech stocks also have a good bid, while retailers are a bit weak, and housing stocks are getting killed on the lowered guidance from TOL.

The yield on the 10-year is down a bit to 4.56%, although the recent uptrend there does not appear to be broken yet.

long GE, INTC, JNJ