Early Weakness

Morning News of Note:

• AAPL: JOBS FIGHTING FRENCH OVER ITUNES LAW Apple's Steve Jobs is threatening to halt the successful iTunes music service in France rather than give in to lawmakers there who want Apple to share its technology with other tech companies, The Post has learned. Sources say Jobs has been telling music industry executives that he may bail on France if the country passes a law requiring Apple to let users of digital music players other than iPods download music from iTunes. (Full Story) NY Post
• Amex IPO: Amex to Become For-Profit Firm, May Hold IPO The member-owned American Stock Exchange plans to turn itself into a for-profit company by 2007 in preparation for possibly offering stock in itself. The century-old exchange -- once known as the Curb for its beginning as an outdoor street market near its current lower-Manhattan floor -- is the latest to try to take advantage of investors' growing interest in owning a piece of the places where financial instruments trade. (Full Story) WSJ
• EBAY: Send $$$: PayPal to offer paying by text message Online payment company PayPal is preparing to offer a service that will let consumers make purchases or money transfers using simple text messaging via mobile phones, the company said on Wednesday. The move by PayPal, a unit of online auctioneer eBay, marks a big step in bridging the worlds of e-commerce and the physical world of brick-and-mortar stores by giving consumers a pay-as-you-go option via phones, analysts said. (Full Story) CNET
• SBUX: SBUX Chairman says 30,000 store target "going to be light"-Reuters
• TRLG: TRLG reaches tentative settlement with Joseph Canouse. Pursuant to the terms of the agreement, the Company has agreed to issue 100,000 shares of its common stock to Mr. Canouse as well as to make a cash payment of $100,000 to Mr. Canouse. The Company had previously taken a one-time, non-cash charge of $2.1 million and had accrued $100,000 for the proposed legal settlement in the fiscal fourth quarter of 2005
• Mad Money: Jim Cramer opened his show by recommending Services Acquisition Corp (SVI), which just bought smoothie chain Jamba Juice for $265M. He believes the smoothie market could be the next big thing. Then Cramer discussed Weight Watchers (WTW), saying the company is back. Americans are willing to lose weight the hard way, learning how to be healthier at Weight Watcher meetings. Cramer then discussed the bull market in the railroad industry, saying the easy money has already been made, but Genesee & Wyoming (GWR) is still possibly a buy. Cramer then told a viewer who wrote to him that he still likes NightHawk Radiology (NHWK), even though the investor bought it near its all time high and lost 10%. In the Lightning Round, Cramer was bullish on Under Armour (UARM), Anglo American (AAUK), International Game (IGT), Genentech (DNA), Amgen (AMGN), Sara Lee (SLE), Kraft (KFT), Kellogg (K), CVS (CVS), BHP Billiton (BHP), Home Depot (HD), Lowes (LOW), Conoco Philips (COP) Chevron (CVX), Occidental Petroleum (OXY), Vitesse (VTSS), Ciena (CIEN) and Tata Motors (TTM), and was bearish on Microsoft (MSFT), Dell (DELL), Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI), Multimedia Games (MGAM), Stereotaxis (STXS), Smuckers (SJM), Silver Wheaton (SLW), Medarex (MEDX), Fred's (FRED), Laserscope (LSCP), Petrohawk Energy (HAWK) and Sony (SNE).

Market Comments: The market is under a bit of pressure in early trading. Some notable disappointments on the earnings front were Adobe (ADBE) and YRC Worldwide (YRC), who lowered guidance and the stocks are down sharply.

Existing home sales were up more that expected, and that is helping the homebuilder stocks bounce. Semis are also bucking the early weakness, along with energy stocks. Healthcare stocks are pretty much down across the board.

Bond yields are slightly higher at 4.71%.

long AAPL