Waiting for Bernanke

Morning News of Note:

• MS: Discover to Offer a New Debit Card Discover Financial Services, which has more than 50 million cardholders, will for the first time offer a debit card to banks that previously issued only cards from Visa and MasterCard. The debit card from Discover, a unit of Morgan Stanley, the securities firm, will be the first new signature debit program available to financial institutions since a ruling in a 2004 antitrust case allowed banks that issued Visa and MasterCard to also offer other brands. (Full Story) NY Times
• GOOG BE: BearingPoint to Help Sell Google Technology Consulting Firm to Integrate Search Product That Sorts Companies' Records BearingPoint Inc., a McLean consulting firm that has been mired in accounting problems for the past year, has struck a deal with Google Inc. to sell and integrate technology the search-industry giant created for corporations. BearingPoint executives said they do not know how much revenue will result from the deal, which is expected to be announced today, but the firm is creating a 100-person unit dedicated to the venture. (Full Story) Washington Post
• BP CVX XOM APC DVN: U.S. Royalty Plan to Give Windfall to Oil Companies The federal government is on the verge of one of the biggest giveaways of oil and gas in American history, worth an estimated $7 billion over five years New projections, buried in the Interior Department's just-published budget plan, anticipate that the government will let companies pump about $65 billion worth of oil and natural gas from federal territory over the next five years without paying any royalties to the government. (Full Story) NY Times
• SBUX: Starbucks to Continue Expansion Into China Starbucks Corp. Chairman Howard Schultz said the Seattle coffee giant will continue its aggressive expansion into China. "The No.1 priority for our company in terms of new growth is China," Mr. Schultz said in an interview here. "We are as excited and enthused about our course in China as about any country we have entered." (Full Story) WSJ
• KBH TOL: KB Home Blames Declining Orders On Cooling Market Home builder KB Home reported a surge in cancellations and a drop in orders in the past two months, the latest indication that the hot housing market appears to be cooling and a sign that the softening may not be limited to the luxury segment. The disclosure from KB Home follows last week's announcement from high-end builder Toll Brothers Inc. that new orders fell sharply in the first quarter. (Full Story) WSJ

Market Comments: Retail sales came in stronger than expected this morning, and that is helping the retail stocks get a bit of a bounce. WAG also got upgraded at Raymond James, saying valuation was attractive. TGT said that same-store sales came in at the low end of its range.

Everyone is talking about how the markets are cautious ahead of Bernanke giving his testimony, but every financial stock on my screen is up this morning.

RIG reported earnings and said the 1H06 would be weak due to drilling delays. This is sending waves over the energy complex. But I think these stocks have come down enough, and I am now going to start looking for opportunities to add. I still think the service stocks and Canadian energy trusts are attractive.

long GOOG, WAG, XOM