Monday Morning Musings

Morning News of Note:

• MNST: Monster Worldwide Gave Officials Options Ahead of Share Run-Ups The operator of job-search Web site Monster.com frequently granted options to top executives dated ahead of sharp run-ups in its share price, raising questions about whether the grants were backdated or otherwise timed to boost their value to the recipients. The findings, gleaned from securities filings made by New York-based Monster Worldwide Inc., come amid a widening scandal over the timing of executive options. (Full Story) WSJ
• SBUX: STARBUCKS' FIRST N.Y. DRIVE-THRU Starbucks has found a site for its first New York City drive-thru - not far from where Chairman Howard Shultz grew up. The java hut is slated to open by month's end in Coney Island, on Cropsey Avenue off the Belt Parkway - about a 15-minute drive from the Bayview Projects in Canarsie, the now-wealthy Shultz's humble childhood home. (Full Story) NY Post
• DIS: Pixar's 'Cars' Has Solid Start But Trails Prior Hits "Cars," the latest movie from Walt Disney Co.'s Pixar, peeled out with a $62.8 million start at the domestic box office, a solid debut but one that lagged behind the animation studio's two previous hits, "Finding Nemo" and "The Incredibles." The first Pixar movie to be released since the animation studio was acquired by Disney, "Cars" is being closely watched as an early gauge of the $7.4 billion deal. The debut is the biggest for director John Lasseter, but the first Pixar movie not to better its predecessor -- in this case, 2004's "The Incredibles." (Full Story) WSJ
• HANS: Hansen Natural-HANS declares a 4-for-1 stock split
• AMD: Digitimes reports AMD will launch a pricing campaign later this month, covering the full range of its product line, in head-to-head rivalry with Intel, which is expected to lower the prices for its processors in July, according to sources with motherboard makers. After actively talking to motherboard makers in search of ways to counter Intel's price cuts, AMD has come up with a new pricing solution, despite tight production capacity and possible erosion of its profits, the sources said. The sources indicated that AMD will cut the prices for four models in its Athlon 64 single-core CPU series by 20-30% in mid June. On July 24, AMD will reduce the prices for its Athlon 64x2 dual-core CPUs by 25-50%, and its low-end single-core Sempron series will see a 10-15% cut in prices, according to the sources
• Mad Money Summary: Cramer opened his show by telling his viewers to prepare for a hard landing if Bernanke keeps raising interest rates. He said to run to supermarkets and drugstores. He suggested supermarket stocks Hershey (HSY), McCormick (MKC), and Kellogg (K), and drug companies Schering-Plough (SGP), Novartis (NVS), Sanofi-Aventis (SNY), and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ). Cramer then said the new king of pharmacy is GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), not CVS (CVS) or Walgreen (WAG) because the company reportedly has the highest bid in for Pfizer's (PFE) consumer unit. Also, Glaxo is based in London, giving it "a layer of insulation" against Bernanke. In the "Lightning Round," Cramer was bullish on Schering-Plough, Evergreen Solar (ESLR), Goldman Sachs (GS), Willbros Group (WG), Amedisys (AMED) and Chesapeake Energy (CHK), and was bearish on Merck (MRK), IAC/InterActiveCorp (IACI), Suntech Power (STP), Burger King Holdings (BKC), King Pharmaceuticals (KG), Lehman Brothers (LEH), Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI), Microsoft (MSFT) and Texas Instruments (TXN).

Market Comments: After a slightly positive open, stocks are again dipping into the red. One thing I like is that very few people seem to be calling for a rally here. I see the talking heads on CNBC and elsewhere warning of more choppiness, a trading range, etc. So if a rally can catch a lot of people off balance, it becomes even more likely.

This week we get updates on PPI and CPI, two inflation reports that the market will be watching closely. There continues to be members of the FOMC that make comments almost daily on the inflation outlook. I find it interesting that these members often raise the biggest fuss over inflation just when it appears to be peaking.

LEH reported strong earnings, but the stock is selling off anyway. Not a great sign of confidence, as I like to see leadership out of the brokers. But maybe they can catch a bid at some point.

long LEH