Monday Morning Musings

Morning News of Note:

• GOOG AMD: Google-GOOG and Advanced Micro Devices-AMD may have something cooking-The Inquirer. While The Inquirer has little information on the issue they are betting are on it being "1) Search accelerators 2) HT backplanes of a large scale 3) Power power power."
• TWX: Warner Bros. to Try File Sharing Of Films, TV Shows in Germany In a move that shows Hollywood is examining the benefits of a technology it long reviled, Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. is expected to announce today that it will sell movies and television shows online in Germany using peer-to-peer technology. Warner Bros. is working with Bertelsmann AG and its subsidiary Arvato to create a service called In2Movies, to launch in March. (Full Story) WSJ
• EBAY: Seeing Fakes, Angry Traders Confront EBay A year ago Jacqui Rogers, a retiree in southern Oregon who dabbles in vintage costume jewelry, went on eBay and bought 10 butterfly brooches made by Weiss, a well-known maker of high-quality costume jewelry in the 1950's and 1960's. At first, Ms. Rogers thought she had snagged a great deal. But when the jewelry arrived from a seller in Rhode Island, her well-trained eye told her that all of the pieces were knockoffs (Full Story) NY Times
• WMT: sees January comps up approximately 4.7%
• Mad Money Summary: Jim Cramer opened his show discussing NMT Medical (NMTI), which he believes is a $17 stock that could trade at $100, if testing for the device is successful. The company is a medical device maker that has a stent-like device called CardioSEAL which is now in trials to prove its effectiveness. He said if the testing does not work out, however, the stock could trade below $10 a share. Cramer then discussed Concur Tech (CNQR), which has seen tremendous earnings growth and should continue to see more. The company automates travel expenses for businesses, and can help stop employees from expensing fraudulent charges such as strip club visits, a popular Wall Street "perk." He notes that the company has a 97% customer-retention rate. Cramer then discussed equities, and how he would take profits in International Securitites Exchange (ISE) and put it into Nasdaq Stock Market (NDAQ). He also likes Archipelago (AX), but likes Nasdaw better because it trades at a discount. While taking calls, Cramer reminded one viewer that the only reason he currently favors CVS Corp (CVS) over Walgreen (WAG) is because of the Albertson's (ABS) deal. He then told another viewer that it is too late to get into Broadcom (BRCM) and if viewers had gotten in when he urged them earlier, it was time to "ring the register" and sell half of their stake. In the lightning round, Cramer was bullish on WEN, SNE, BHI, MSFT, ADP, SKS, GT, BNT, RMBS, TM, REDF, CY, HAL amd ATI, and was bearish on CSC, SWKS, KOMG, CTB, WIT, PSUN, ANF and CTHR

Market Comments: The market opens up a little this morning. Energy stocks are higher on the blowout earnings from XOM. And the analysts are tripping over themselves to raise estimates and up price targets for HAL.

Retailers are getting a bounce also. Most other sectors are a mixed bag. Oil is trading down a bit ($67.65), and bond yields are up near 4.54%.

There are still quite a few more earnings reports on tap for this week. Also, the FOMC meets tomorrow for Greenspan's last meeting, and Friday is the big payroll report.

long HAL, XOM, TWX, WMT