Mixed Inflation Data

Morning News of Note:

• EBAY: Bargain Hunters On eBay (the Stock, That Is) One of the Internet's glamour stocks is looking like a relative bargain. Shares of online auctioneer eBay Inc. have been in the doldrums for more than a year. The shares, which were at $38.88, up 85 cents, at 4 p.m. yesterday in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading, are down 10% from $43.22 at the beginning of this year and off 33% since the beginning of January 2005. (Full Story) WSJ
• SGMS: Lottery may have to pay Scientific Games for Powerball option North Carolina's lottery may be forced to do business with Scientific Games, a company that was part of a lobbying debacle last year and fueled investigations into House Speaker Jim Black's office. Scientific Games owns the rights to the "Power Play," a popular feature of the multistate Powerball lottery game that North Carolina is scheduled to join May 30. (Full Story) Greensboro News-Record
• $1000 Gold: Jim Rogers Says Gold Will Reach $1,000 as Commodity Prices Soar Jim Rogers, the former George Soros partner who foresaw the start of a commodity rally in 1999, said the boom in energy and raw material prices will endure, driving gold to a record $1,000 an ounce. ``The shortest bull market for commodities lasted 15 years, the longest 23 years,'' Rogers, 63, said in an interview. So if history is any guide, ``they've got a long way to go.'' (Full Story) Bloomberg
• AZR PNK: Pinnacle Entertainment Nears Deal to Buy Aztar for $1.5 Billion Aztar Corp. is close to striking an agreement to be acquired by Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. for about $1.5 billion, or $43 a share, in cash, according to people familiar with the situation. The move could conclude a frenzied bidding war for the company that owns the Tropicana casino properties in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, N.J. (Full Story) WSJ
• Mad Money Summary: Cramer opened his show discussing an airline play he feels deserves attention, GOL Linhas Aereas Inteligentes (GOL). He says GOL is in a good position to profit from the struggles of another Brazilian airline, Varig. Cramer then apologized for two past mistakes, his calls on Dick's Sporting Goods (DKS) and @Road (ARDI). Senior Marketwatch columnist Herb Greenberg then told Cramer he would avoid True Religion Apparel (TRLG) because something seems wrong with their business in Japan. Cramer then played "Break the Analyst," disagreeing with a UBS analyst who had a Sell recommendation on Wheeling-Pittsburgh (WPSC). Cramer feels the stock is still a Buy as the steel sector is moving higher. In the "Lightning Round," Cramer was bullish on Cisco (CSCO), Ciena (CIEN),Finisar (FNSR), JDS Uniphase (JDSU), Fed Ex (FDX), UPS (UPS), Whole Foods (WFMI), Pepsico (PEP), Hansen (HANS), Nokia (NOK), Yahoo! (YHOO), JLG Industries (JLG), Terex (TEX), Chicago Merc (CME) and Altria (MO), and was bearish on Redback (RBAK), ABX Air (ABXA), Wild Oats (OATS), Martha Stewart (MSO), Dell (DELL), Intel (INTC) and Sify (SIFY).

Market Comments: The CPI came in slightly above expectations this morning, and that has bond yields (10-yr) ramping back above 5% to 5.04%. If this rally in bond yields persists, I would expect it to weigh on equities today. Their will also be comments by Fed members that could affect things.

Earnings season was mixed last night. MOT and AMGN's earnings are being treated as disappointing, while TXN and YHOO reported strong results and their stocks are up.

Tonight is a big night for earnings reports, with several heavyweights reporting (AAPL, EBAY, QCOM, etc.)

long AMGN